It's really immaterial whether it is legal or not. yes it does exist and most likely then not it is happening.
i say this because the reward to do so and get away with it is greater then the risk of getting caught. they can do it many times before they do get caught and big "if"they get caught.

The consequences of being caught are insignificant in comparison to how much money they can make and more often then not the fine may sound huge but not in comparison to the money they have stolen. so who cares. fine me, jail me for a couple years. I've made multimiions to justify it. get out early for good behavior and I'll never be able to do this again but I can get my brother too!!! lol. Wash rinse repeat.

In the end Joe will adapt and overcome. they are already in the process. The rest is just noise...