When opening various mobile phone software, as well as scanning applications in daily life, many people may be hit by "luck". 100 yuan, 200 yuan phone bill, spend dozens of dollars can get. However, after paying, I only bought a small coupon. If you can't save a few dollars, you can't use a few sheets, you can recharge, and you may not be able to get an account. You can pay more attention to this type of scam.
Routine: Winning red envelopes with video, elderly users are difficult to parry
"I thought it was an event and a discount, but I didn't expect to change tricks to deceive people. Although the money is not much, it is really troublesome! Not long ago, when the 63-year-old Aunt Zhou clicked to view an electronic photo album made by an old friend in the group, a striking poster popped up on the page, suggesting that you can "recharge" 100 yuan for 39.9 yuan.
Since it is a page that pops up in the process of opening the electronic album app, Aunt Zhou understands it as an activity held by the app for users. With a feeling of trust, she paid 39.9 yuan, the phone bill was not much, but a text message came, indicating that 10 10 yuan coupons had been issued, to click the link, download a new App to recharge and use. "What a deal!" Aunt Zhou was so angry that she threw away her mobile phone and had to admit that she was unlucky.
"It is said that recharging 69.9 yuan will get 200 yuan for phone bills, but it is only a small coupon, which is completely false propaganda!" "The old man inadvertently clicked on the advertisement to induce the elderly to download the App to the mobile phone and buy a phone bill recharge coupon. It is said that 49 buy 200 call coupons, but it is actually some coupons for charging 200 minus 10 and charging 100 minus 5"... The reporter found that the trap of "preferential recharge" has been emerging one after another since last year, and consumers with similar encounters on social platforms and complaint platforms abound.
Why are people so easy to get a catch? From the price point of view, these advertisements invariably set the "discount" to 29, 39 yuan to charge 100, or 49 or 69 yuan to charge 200, in short, less than half the actual value. At first glance, it makes people feel "worth it", but they are not wary of too low prices.
In terms of page design, advertising is even more painstaking. The reporter downloaded a "super bargain" app that was mentioned a lot, and after opening it, a red envelope that almost occupied the screen popped up, with the words "Wishing you prosperity Dajida" written on it and a big "open" word in the middle. Re-entering, the screen changes to "Today's red envelope to be collected", accompanied by the noise of coins colliding, the temptation is very strong. The third time you enter, it becomes a serious-looking "reminder of arrears" with black letters on a white background, informing that "there is a 200 yuan phone subsidy that is about to expire" and that it must be collected in time.
If the user stays longer, the page also automatically plays the video. Several different videos show women in white shirts and black suits talking against the backdrop of a "China Mobile" business hall. One moment is, "the three major service providers jointly launched activities to benefit the people, considering some elderly people, the operation is very simple", and the other moment became "facing the mainland people, with your fingers, you can easily save more than 170 yuan"... Several rounds of "offensive" down, it is really difficult for elderly users to parry.
(Ads masquerading as delinquency reminders)
Serial pit: The coupon suddenly disappears, and the paid recharge cannot be paid
Even if it's not as straightforward as you thought at first, if these coupons you bought can be used, does it sound okay? The reporter found that it is not easy to enjoy the discount, and may even fall into a larger "pit".
Enter the mobile phone number, the reporter paid 35 yuan in the "super bargain purchase", received a coupon worth 200 yuan, and reminded the reporter that he has become a "very provincial" member, and needs to click the SMS link to jump to the "non-provincial" platform to use, and the 100 yuan call fee still needs to pay 95 yuan.
Looking closely at the page, there is a very small "rules of use" word, it turns out that the 200 yuan coupons are divided into 16 10 yuan coupons, and 8 5 yuan coupons, a total of 24 coupons. To recharge 200 yuan, you can use 1 10 yuan coupon, recharge 100 yuan, and only use 1 5 yuan coupon.
To make matters worse, these 24 coupons, only 2 per month, are valid for one year. This means that in order to use all the coupons, the reporter must recharge the corresponding amount every month for the next year and use up two coupons. Calculate down, in order to enjoy the discount of 200 yuan, there is 35 yuan to pay for the purchase by yourself, and you need to charge 4,000 yuan a year! Compared with some official recharge discounts, it is almost no loss or profit.
It took half a day of effort, and it was good not to lose or earn. These coupons are likely to expire quietly. Netizen Xiao Lu said that he downloaded the "Cocoa Earn" app in early 2023 and paid 50 yuan to buy 100 yuan coupons, including 10 coupons with a full 100 yuan minus 5 yuan and 5 coupons with a full 200 yuan minus 10 yuan. That month, she recharged her phone bill of 300 yuan and used up 1 5 yuan coupon and 1 10 yuan coupon, and she was quite happy.
At the end of March, when she opened "Cocoa Earn" again to recharge her phone bill, she found that the coupons were gone. "Contact customer service to ask, not to say that it is in maintenance or in the upgrade, today to push tomorrow, tomorrow to postpone the day after tomorrow." I asked for a refund and did not give a refund, answered the question, and finally ignored me. ”
What's more, after using coupons, the cost of recharging their real money did not arrive, causing consumers to suffer greater losses. "The old man used the coupon he bought to recharge the phone bill, paid 190, showing that the recharge was successful but did not get into the account" "First induced 29.37 yuan to recharge 100 yuan of phone bill, when recharge 200 yuan according to preferential conditions after paying 189.61, the phone bill was delayed in the account" "One week after the phone bill was not paid, there was no manual customer service online, and the telephone customer service could not get through for a long time"... On the black cat complaint platform, there have been more than 2,000 complaints around preferential phone bill recharge, false publicity and fraud.
Who is pushing: Small companies are losing one after the other, and small pop-ups are everywhere
The reporter found that in the relevant complaints, consumers widely mentioned various names and little-known platforms such as Chaowuyuan, Huishengxing, Little Bear Kuaishan, Huixin Privilege, and Quxiang Xibao, basically focusing on discounts, rebates, discounts, etc. But apart from the overlapping ads that pop up every step, there's almost no actual functionality.
Even, many platforms are not even apps, they cannot be searched in the app store, and after paying for the recharge, they can only enter a simple and crude page through the SMS link. For example, the "very saving" platform that the reporter jumped to through the link has nothing but a page to enter the mobile phone number to make a payment.
Some consumers said that some apps or platforms charge recharge fees, so that after people become "members", they can no longer be opened after a period of time. Some have changed their appearance, appearing in the form of other similar software and platforms, inducing each other to attract traffic and repeatedly defrauding membership fees.
Where do these platforms come from? The reporter inquired that the company behind the "very provincial" platform is Shanghai Haomaru Information Technology Co., Ltd., which was established on January 11, 2023, and it has only been more than 4 months.
The company behind the "small province privilege" behind the "small province privilege" that was collectively complained about by consumers on Weibo is Shanghai Lixiang Trade Development Center, which was established on February 14, 2023, less than 100 days ago.
The "Come to the Province" App, which has been complained about by many people, is backed by Sichuan Yunge Network Technology Co., Ltd. It was established on September 16, 2022, and has been listed in the list of abnormal operations by the Zigong Municipal Market Supervision Administration on March 22, 2023 because "it cannot be contacted through the registered residence or business premises".
On April 12, 2023, the company changed its address, changed investors, etc. The major shareholder changed from Ni Xulong to Zou Linhan. Sichuan Xingyu Network Technology Co., Ltd., named by Zou Linhan, was also included in the list of abnormal operations because it was "unable to contact through the registered residence or business premises".
The "magical privilege" that has also been complained about by many people is Changzhou Yile Shuka Information Technology Co., Ltd. The company has only been established for one and a half years, but in September last year and May this year, there were two changes of registered address and two changes of investors. At present, the company's major shareholder is Wu Shengjie, and he has a number of network companies deregistration, liquidation, abnormal operation and other information.
It can be seen from the above sources that it is the Internet technology companies that are all over the place, all kinds of things, and the other is good, in the use of various formal apps such as Weibo, WeChat, video platforms, or scanning code charging, cycling, taking express delivery, invoicing and many other scenarios, using pervasive pop-up advertisements to induce consumers to step into the trap.
"Let consumers become members before charging their phone bills to obtain personal information, collect membership fees, advertise niche apps, and attract traffic, and one 'technology company' can attract tens of thousands of customers." In response to the concentrated outbreak of related scams in a short period of time, the Zigong Municipal Market Supervision Bureau and the Zigong Municipal Committee for the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests issued a reminder, saying that these companies do not recharge customers in time after collecting membership fees and customers' recharge phone bills, which may have the risk of occupying funds or even "running away".
In this regard, some insiders suggest that consumers should be cautious about comparison, do not click on various pop-up advertisements at will, and do not download unfamiliar apps that cannot be searched by various app stores. There is a preliminary "distrust" judgment of goods and services that are far below reasonable market prices. Keep records and other relevant information during transactions, and if there is a dispute or negotiation fails, immediately complain to the platform, consumer association or market supervision department for rights protection.
Source: Beijing Daily client