If I had to guess that it the most likely scenario, someone swapped the filters out in the store and then bought the more expensive k&n but at the st price, the person returning the filter was the unlucky individual who ended up with it.That guy is the victim..some theif is at home with the K&N filter in the SuperTech box
If I know that I'm going to buy the filter I'll cut open the box and look at it, I don't really know what good it does but I do get to visually inspect the filter for damage and the condition of the o'ring which makes me feel a lot better than by purchasing some random filter in a box that I know absolutely nothing about. I guess it's the same as when buying filters online you don't get to inspect them first.