I think creating a shipping label is pretty easy. You can do it yourself on the carrier's website by entering the pickup and delivery addresses, weight, and paying the shipping charges. They create a label for you to print with a tracking number, and it probably shows up as 'label created' if someone enters that number. I assume you can get a refund if the item isn't actually tendered to the carrier. But if it isn't picked up, I can't imagine how a scammer can fool any carrier into indicating that it was. I'd sure be interested in theories anyone might have.