Not long ago, Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Viewpoint" column broadcast "Frequently Receive Text Messages on "Points Expiration and Exchange"? Beware of "Fraud"", revealing that some merchants send text messages to mobile phone users, saying that they have large points that are about to expire, and induce users to use points and cash to exchange for high-priced or low-quality goods.
After the article was broadcast, China Telecom sent a text message to remind users: "Some unscrupulous merchants use the gimmick of redeeming points as soon as possible to defraud, resulting in damage to consumer rights and interests. Please pay attention to verify the source of information, and log in to the official address of each platform for point redemption to avoid being deceived. ”
Recently, the "Xinhua Vision" reporter tracked and found that there are still consumers who receive similar "points expiration redemption" text messages from time to time. Why does this chaos continue to be banned?
There are still consumers who report that the points are redeemed for inferior products
Mr. Feng, a consumer in Henan, said that he received a text message a few days ago, "saying that I have more than 30,000 points that will expire the next day, and provided a redemption link, signed 'service notice'." Mr. Feng mistakenly thought it was a reminder from a mobile operator, and then clicked on the link and bought a "genius M6 smart phone watch" worth 799 yuan for his child with cash and 7300 points. After receiving it, it was found that the watch was poorly made, and it ran out of power within two hours, and it could not be returned.
In January 2024, the product is still being sold on the platform of Lichuang Technology Co., Ltd
The reporter saw that the sticker on the back of the watch purchased by Mr. Feng had the name of the manufacturer, but the product trademark and specific production address were not seen. After investigation, the Guchuang Premium Points Mall, which sells the watch, is operated by Shenzhen Lichuang Technology Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of 1 million yuan.
Mr. Wang, a consumer in Beijing, spent 429 yuan and 29,000 points on the points exchange platform to buy six bottles of "Penfolds Pinnacles PIN407 dry red wine", which is claimed to be "Australian origin". The reporter found that the red wine purchased by Mr. Wang is highly similar to a well-known Australian brand red wine on the market that costs more than 500 yuan per bottle, and is highly similar in terms of packaging style and font design, which is easy to confuse.
Some consumers also reported that they bought a product with a package and a product name very similar to "SK-II" with points and cash, and found that it was a copycat product called "SKINII" after receiving it.
The relevant person in charge of the Sina Black Cat complaint platform said that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of complaints related to integral text messages on the Black Cat complaint platform increased by more than 77% compared with the previous quarter.
How are illegal text messages sent in bulk?
The sending number of the illegal points SMS generally starts with "106". The reporter searched on the Internet with "106 SMS" as the keyword and found that many businesses released SMS "business" advertisements starting with "106", and most of them were based on "high arrival rate, high conversion rate, and three networks are not blocked" as slogans.
In January 2024, netizens received a text message for points redemption
The reporter asked a platform in Shanghai that claimed to be able to send text messages starting with "106" in groups, and learned that the platform provides self-service operation accounts and SMS packages for individual and corporate users, charging 400 yuan per 10,000 messages.
The reporter purchased the platform's "106" SMS package as the owner of a cosmetics online store, and was told that a shopping website or online store link could be added to the text message. The staff of the platform reminded that the content of the text message needs to be manually reviewed by the platform, and some obviously illegal content is not allowed to be sent.
When the reporter asked if it was possible to send a mass text message containing the words "points exchange", the staff member said that the regular bulk text message platform does not allow this kind of text message. However, after negotiation, after removing the specific amount of points, the SMS platform still sent a reminder text message for points redemption.
Another mass messaging platform told reporters that they have no obligation to review and supervise user behavior, and all legal responsibilities incurred by users due to sending information are borne by users.
"The Cybersecurity Law stipulates that electronic information sending service providers shall perform security management obligations, and if they know that the electronic information sent by their users contains information that is prohibited from being published or transmitted by laws or administrative regulations, they shall stop providing services, take measures to eliminate them, keep relevant records, and report to the relevant competent departments. Qiu Weiqi, a teacher at the Arbitration Research Institute (Arbitration School) of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, said.
At the same time, Qiu Weiqi said that the Cybersecurity Law also stipulates that network operators should strengthen the management of information published by their users, and if they discover information that is prohibited from being published or transmitted by laws and administrative regulations, they should immediately stop transmitting the information, take measures such as eliminating it, prevent the spread of information, keep relevant records, and report to the relevant competent authorities.
How can supervision be strengthened?
"Counterfeit goods", "cheating money", "dragging and not returning"...... Many consumers reported that when they contacted these points exchange platforms, the phone number was empty or hung up, the customer service was a robot reply, and no one accepted the return or did not process it after acceptance.
The reporter investigated the industrial and commercial registration information of a number of such companies that were complained about, and found that most of the companies were registered from 2022 to 2023, and there were no abnormal operations and punishment records.
Mr. Feng, a deceived consumer, said that after complaining to the market supervision department, he was told that he needed to submit "a complete and uninterrupted unboxing video and an all-round complete and clear picture of the reported product" within three days. As Mr. Fung was unable to provide the video, the complaint was treated as insufficient evidence.
Gu Wei, director of the Sixth Procuratorate Department of the People's Procuratorate of Taizhou City, Jiangsu Province, believes that in these cases, the outer packaging of the products sold by the merchants and the well-known goods are similar in color, font and other design elements, which is very easy for consumers to misjudge and confuse, and is suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the Trademark Law and involving infringement of the exclusive right to use registered trademarks.
"We believe that there are multiple illegal possibilities for such acts, involving administrative liability, civil liability, and may also involve criminal offenses of fraud. Gu Wei said that the procuratorate should pay close attention to such phenomena and promptly carry out public interest litigation supervision in accordance with the law for acts involving infringement of public interests.
Some operators said that consumers can report when they have doubts about the legitimacy of text messages, and the system will shut down if the monitored number is a fraudulent call, a harassing call, or a spam text message. However, it is understood that some consumers have submitted complaints to the operator, but 30 days have passed and no reply has been received.
Qiu Weiqi introduced that the Cybersecurity Law stipulates that network operators do not perform their obligations to dispose of illegal information, and electronic information sending service providers do not perform their security management obligations, and stipulate corresponding legal responsibilities such as ordering corrections, giving warnings, confiscating illegal gains, fines, ordering the suspension of relevant businesses, suspending business for rectification, closing websites, revoking relevant business licenses or business licenses, and imposing fines on directly responsible managers and other directly responsible personnel.
Experts suggest that the market supervision department can work with the public security organs, internet information departments, operators, etc. to establish a mechanism for synchronizing illegal clues, and share clues in a timely manner through cooperation, and coordinate and co-govern to eradicate this chaos.
Source: Xinhua News Agency B51