According to the data of the General Administration of Customs, in the first quarter of this year, the total import and export value of mainland trade in goods was 10.17 trillion yuan, of which, according to preliminary estimates, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce was 577.6 billion yuan, an increase of 9.6%, and exports accounted for 448 billion yuan.
Obviously, even if everyone is complaining about the decrease in the number of cross-border e-commerce orders, there are still many opportunities in this huge market, and there is a steady stream of new entrants.
Tongtuo was fraudulently used to defraud again
On April 9, Damai Tongtuo issued a statement on its official account, saying that some criminals used the name of Tongtuo to carry out the so-called full custody of the store.
Tongtuo said that this is a fraud. Specifically, Tongtuo has never promoted the business of "store hosting" through the platform of Douyin, and the company does not have this business, so it will not charge any individual the so-called "store deposit", and in addition, it has never authorized any individual or company to engage in the above behavior.
Therefore, any business carried out in the name of Tongtuo is illegal and suspected of fraud.
In fact, all social platforms have always been full of various scams about cross-border e-commerce, among which the most scams about "no supply" are the most.
"0 threshold", "no need to stock up", "super high returns", such slogans as almost taking the initiative to send wealth into the pocket make many novices excited, even if there is still a trace of doubt in their hearts, but the greed that does not fall into practice still makes them voluntarily fooled.
For this kind of scam, the relevant departments of the mainland have repeatedly issued warnings, but victims continue to emerge.
The "store hosting" business mentioned above is a common "agent operation" scam, "the store is handed over to me, no need to worry, professional operation doubles the store sales ......".
In this pit, many novices signed tens of thousands of yuan in agency operation contracts, but in the end they couldn't find anyone, and even more so, the store couldn't get it back.
Tongtuo was fraudulently used this time, and the criminals committed fraud on the grounds that "you only need to pay the store deposit and do not need to stock up on the operation of the store".
There are also copycat platforms and fake platforms, which are extremely similar in name, web page, URL and other aspects by imitating mainstream e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay, as well as specially created "official" cross-border e-commerce platforms.
The latter is more difficult to identify, but the former can still be different by comparing URL domains.
Tongtuo also encountered the situation that the official mall was counterfeited, so it said in the statement: the company's official website is https://www.tomtop.cn/, the address of the export mall is https://www.tomtop.com/, the address of the import mall: https://www.tomtop.com.cn/, and any other website claiming to be the Tongtuo mall is fake.
For the above behavior, Tongtuo said that it will reserve the right to pursue relevant legal responsibilities, and also reminded customers and consumers not to transfer money easily, but to call for consultation first, and to report to the public security organs in time if they suffer losses.
Operation training fraud? Tongtuo: will report the case in accordance with the law
In fact, this is not the first time that Tongtuo has been fraudulently used to commit fraud.
As early as January this year, Tongtuo also issued a statement about the fraud of criminals fraudulently using its name to forge its company's official seal for training and operation.
It is reported that some criminals said that they could provide training services such as store opening and operation for cross-border stores through the name and official seal of Tongtuo, but in fact, the criminals made fake seals and privately printed contracts.
In this regard, Tongtuo had to issue a statement on its official channels, saying that it did not conduct training and enrollment in the name of "Tongtuo Cross-border Academy", nor did it authorize any third party or individual to carry out relevant business, and that any individual or third-party organization claimed that the training activities carried out on behalf of Tongtuo were illegal.
In response to the criminals' fraudulent use of the name to defraud, Tongtuo will report to the public security organs in accordance with the law and investigate the legal responsibility of the relevant personnel.
Using the name of a well-known brand to commit fraud is not uncommon in the entire illegal business circle, and there are many such examples in the cross-border circle. Because it is easier for big brands to gain trust, they are often targeted, which is the same reason that pirates make knock-off products.
By fraudulently using the name of a brand and a large company, a large number of streams were pushed on various social media platforms, taking advantage of the weaknesses in human nature, and playing slogans such as "0 foundation, 0 threshold, fast wealth freedom" and "sideline business at home, earning 10,000 yuan a day is not a dream", and when a batch of "leeks" was attracted, they were quickly harvested and then disappeared.
Tongtuo is not the first victim of cross-border sales, and it will not be the last.
Others, such as the fake platform mentioned in the first part above, the criminals said that they could quickly enter the mainstream cross-border e-commerce platforms in the current market through his platform, and they would also get official traffic support through the platform, but in the end, the novice was deceived again and again, and the money was remitted many times, seeing that "the cross-border e-commerce business is slowly getting started", and the more money is invested, the more difficult it is to withdraw cash, until it is found that the criminals have run away with the money before they react to report the case.
Cross-border e-commerce scams are "old-fashioned", but the victims are constant
In fact, the fraud routines of cross-border e-commerce are quite old-fashioned, basically focusing on the aspects of "no supply", "agent operation", "fake platform", and "platform phishing email".
It's just that with the development of time and technology, some technical upgrades have been added to the scam.
"Earn money from foreigners while lying down", "No deposit required", "1 yuan product can be sold for 10 dollars", "0 cost, high return"...... In fact, these can be seen to be full of fraud, but the temptation is too strong, many whites still want to gamble, "what if", but how can there be so many "just in case" opportunities in the world.
Through the black cat complaint query, there were 6,753 complaints with the keyword "no source" and 8,967 complaints about "agency operation". If you search for "cross-border e-commerce" as a keyword, there are 7,788 complaints, many of which are about agency operation services, involving many platforms, and more are fraud in training courses.
For example, there are complaints that a company promises high returns and high returns, simple operation, and guarantees that it can quickly issue orders to ensure that it can become a profitable Amazon seller, but after payment, there are only online classes, and the so-called starting monthly income of $3,000 and steady increase in sales are not.
In addition, not only novice sellers are easy to be fooled, but mature old sellers are also prone to stepping on the pit due to phishing emails.
It is reported that a few years ago, many Amazon sellers received phishing emails in the form of PDFs, scammers pretending to be official staff to send "tax invoices", and sellers need to log in to their accounts to view the invoice details. However, when the seller enters the account password, the account will be stolen at the same time.
Until last year, this kind of fraudulent email made a comeback, and some sellers were negligent for a while, and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight.
Even if the cross-border business is getting more and more difficult, it is still a piece of "fat", so the criminals will not stop here, and sellers must remember to be cautious and cautious.