This got me curious about who pays the return costs, and after some searching it looks like the seller eats it[1]. In other words, Amazon might be making money even if the item was returned. Regardless, it also means that it might be possible to shut down these scams (or make them unprofitable) if activists purposely buys these scam listings, only to return them. The scammer would have to eat the fees, which eats into their profits. The only downside is your time plus the possibility of your amazon account getting banned if you return too much.
[1] https://blog.sellerboard.com/2022/09/19/the-actual-costs-of-...