Bao mother, single divorced, middle-aged and elderly women are "hunted"
Author/ IT Times reporter Sun Yonghui
Editor/ Hao Junhui Sun Yan
"Like 'Zhong Gu', if you don't buy it, you feel like it's your own problem."
Recently, the "IT Times" reporter received a number of consumers asking for help, saying that they had encountered a "cosmetics pig killing plate" and fell into the "rose trap" under the banner of "family" and "love": some people said that they spent tens of thousands of yuan to buy products with no effect under the inducement of "skin care mentors" and "PUA"; Some people reluctantly said that they were "forced" to place an order for nearly 30,000 yuan of products, and because they were afraid that their families would know, they deleted all the chat records, resulting in no way to protect their rights; There are also people who were deceived by the "younger brother" who fell from the sky and lost nearly 260,000 yuan...... Consumers who have had the same or similar experiences have independently established "mutual aid groups" to remind each other and "rescue" each other.
After nearly two months of in-depth interviews, the "IT Times" reporter gradually restored the truth behind such "rose traps" - accurately screening "targets" such as mothers, single divorcees, middle-aged and elderly women, etc., from chat to build trust to sales, there are "scripts" to follow, and even female marketers are asked to "pretend to be men" to chat with customers, the purpose is to have "emotion" with female consumers, and finally make consumers pay for the cosmetics they sell.
The film "Grass and Trees in the World", which is being screened, depicts the mode of "trapping" the elderly group by health care product companies - "accompanying, coaxing, scareming, and guilty", and these methods are also used by these "skin care mentors" to "hunt" female consumers.
On various social platforms, the complaint cases involve a number of cosmetics brands and enterprises, including Yan Shimei, Ameiyan, Ameyu, etc., and the sales models and routines are basically similar.
A "younger brother" fell from the sky
Aimed at the purse of the "sister".
"Sister, you have to take care of yourself" "When we recall the past, it is more about the time of companionship and acquaintance" "I will believe in myself, as long as I work hard, I will be able to, with the support of my sister, my brother will be very motivated" "As long as it is good for you, I will go all out to ......" To this day, when "Ran Ran" looked at his WeChat and saw these "touching words" from Zeng Moumou, he still couldn't believe that in just a few months, he transferred nearly 260,000 yuan to this "younger brother" who fell from the sky.
On August 15, 2022, Ran Ran's WeChat added a new friend - Zeng Moumou, a stranger who was added through mobile phone number search, said "added the wrong one" at first, and then began to be commensurate with Ran Ran as a sister and brother on the grounds of "fate". At that time, because of the double pressure of family and work, Ran Ran's mood was at a low point, and under the other party's greetings, she accepted this "younger brother" who fell from the sky.
"He said that he graduated from medical school, gave up his career as a doctor to enter the cosmetics field due to family factors, and is now starting a business." Ran Ran told reporters that this "personality" quickly resonated with himself who also studied biology.
Buying takeaways, sending small gifts, and playing the "emotional card" are Zeng's common methods, "I gave me a scarf, saying that I stayed up late to knit it; I also sent a bunch of shell wind chimes, saying that I went to the beach to pick up shells and made them myself, for which my feet were cut by glass...... Actually, these are all bought online. While being moved, Ran Ran developed trust and dependence on this younger brother.
In the chat between the two sides, a name was frequently mentioned by Zeng Moumou - Yi's home. In his story, he worked in the headquarters of Yi's home for two years, and now he is back in Nanning, Guangxi to start a business and be a product agent of Yi's home, but he is often embarrassed by the people in the headquarters and fails to meet the indicators, "He really 'acted' so badly." Ran Ran often received a call from his "younger brother" in the middle of the night, crying to his sister that it was not easy to start a business, and Ran Ran, who was moved by his inspirational story, transferred money to solve his urgent need.
In one new story after another, the money Ran Ran lent to his "younger brother" ranged from hundreds of yuan to thousands of yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, adding up to nearly 260,000 yuan, "Every time he borrows money from me, after 1~2 weeks, he will send me a bunch of Yanshimei skin care products and Yanshanmei internal conditioning products, and every time I open the express, it is like opening a blind box." A few months later, Ran Ran's skin care products were piling up at home.
"At the time, I thought he might be a liar, but out of trust, I made a bet with myself that he wasn't a liar." It wasn't until August 2023, after being reminded by netizens, that Ran Ran realized that he might have been deceived.
Encountering the "younger brother from the sky" is also Li Yan (pseudonym) from Jiangxi. "I'll treat you like my own family, sister." Li Yan, who works in a garment factory, has lost her parents since she was a child, has three children at home, one is sick all the year round, and her life is difficult, singing on the national karaoke is her only pastime and hobby, a netizen praised her singing voice in the comment area, and quickly called herself "younger brother", under the care and care frequently expressed by the other party, she gradually established trust in this "younger brother".
However, a few days later, the silence was broken by a sentence from the other party - "Sister, I won a place for you to buy skin care products." This surprised Li Yan, who was never willing to use or use skin care products, and immediately refused. But this "younger brother" was very insistent and emphasized that the quota could not be transferred to others, and even said cruel words after Li Yan kept refusing, "You have to ask for this quota if you don't want it."
Li Yan told the "IT Times" reporter that she had deleted the "younger brother", but the other party kept urging her to place an order through text messages and mobile phone calls. She grew up in the countryside and felt helpless about this "dominance", "I was really scared, as if I had some trick in his hands." Li Yan didn't dare to confess to her husband, fearing that the originally stiff relationship between husband and wife would become worse, so she eventually sold her sewing machine and some gold and silver jewelry and transferred the money to her "younger brother", spending a total of about 30,000 yuan.
Subsequently, Li Yan received a bunch of skin care products with the brand name Ameiyan, because she was worried that her family would find out too much, she even burned the boxes of some products, "During that time, my husband and sister thought I was having an affair, but I didn't dare to tell the truth. ”
In the 1-month-long investigation, the "IT Times" reporter has interviewed a number of female consumers who have encountered similar "rose traps", most of their experiences are similar, first in Douyin, national karaoke, Kuaishou and other platforms were accosted, and then the chat position was transferred to WeChat, and the means of asking for warmth are mostly similar, sending amulets, buying brown sugar water, and even small gifts made "by hand", in fact, they are cheap goods bought on e-commerce platforms, and the "personality" displayed in the circle of friends is a positive struggler, The process of recommending products is also gradual, starting from ordinary hydrating cosmetics of 100 yuan ~ 200 yuan, and gradually upgrading to thousands of yuan or even tens of thousands of yuan of high-end "internal adjustment plan", and once female consumers refuse to buy, they will encounter a "storm" like text and voice bombardment.
Another consumer, Zhang Mei (pseudonym), who had spent 30,000 yuan to buy Yan Shimei (Yidijia's official website products), quickly called after discovering that something was wrong and quitting the group, and "explained" on the grounds of "I like you very much".
The health care product sales routine in "The World of Grass and Trees" - the four magic weapons of "accompanying, coaxing, scare, and guilt" are perfectly reproduced here. "Accompaniment" means giving care and companionship online, and chatting late at night is the norm to cultivate feelings with consumers and find out each other's consumption habits and personality traits; "Coaxing" means to gain the trust of consumers by sending small gifts, pretending to go to the temple to pray for blessings, etc.; "Scared" is to exaggerate the problems caused by the lack of skin care, so that consumers are afraid; "Guilt" is similar to the sales routine of health care products, making consumers feel that their behavior is sorry for each other and their families.
So, who is setting the "trap"?
Precise "hunting" on social platforms
Female saleswoman should pretend to be a "male mentor"
On April 22, 2021, the Jinan Municipal Public Security Bureau published a newsletter from the Gangcheng Branch on its Baijia "Quancheng Positive Energy" - "Be careful! The "skin care mentor" you trust may be a liar", the case told in it is almost exactly the same as what happened to Li Yan and Ran Ran: a "skin care mentor" chatted with Ms. Wang about his bumpy emotional experience and struggle: his girlfriend disliked him for having no money to empathize with him, and how he worked hard to grow into a successful man. In the emotional chat day by day, he won Ms. Wang's trust and sympathy, and then launched skin care products worth 60,000 yuan to her.
Three years later, similar plots are still being staged across the country, with short videos and social platforms such as Douyin, Xiaohongshu, WeSing, WeChat Channels, and Kuaishou becoming the "hunting grounds" for these "skin care mentors".
"Each target customer is precisely screened." Zhang Teng (pseudonym), a former "skin care instructor", told the "IT Times" reporter that the marketing targets are all women, preferably divorced and have spending power, and the company's teachers will give some "keywords" during the training, so that they can "cast a wide net" on social platforms.
First of all, the "skincare mentor" needs to create an account on social platforms. "When we first started the training, the person in charge would repeatedly emphasize the sense of realism to us, so most of the videos or pictures on the homepage were exquisite, although most of them were stolen." Another "former skincare mentor" Alan (pseudonym) told the IT Times reporter that creating accounts on various social platforms is the first step. After adding friends, they will gradually recommend products, and then focus on emotional value, similar to recommending health products to the elderly.
"The avatar should be real, and refuse anime, cartoons, blurred and other photos; Nicknames should be simple and generous, not too naïve or with words such as (mutual relationship, friendship, and likes)" ...... "In the 'tutorial', they will also emphasize what kind of accounts women like. Alain went on to add that the initial product price is moderate, and if you choose to buy it in the first step, it is easy to continue to fall into the high-priced product later. She said that the salespeople per capita "have a house and a car", but the house and car are owned by the dealer boss, "When I was training, the person in charge said that if necessary, I could apply to the boss for shooting." ”
Once you have a personal account, you start "hunting".
Female, older than 28 years old, less than 500 followers, less than 500 followers, less than 200 works...... According to such conditions, Alan will search for a large number of personal accounts on short video platforms every day, and then like, comment, and send private messages to his works. The words of accosting are all ready-made, such as "Life is a long road, I feel that I still have to be bold once, otherwise how can I have the opportunity to meet you as a friend, where are you from?" ”
If the other person will respond, they will move on to the next link, talking about hometown, family, or travel, interests, and hobbies. In a thick stack of scripts, different scripts are provided according to the works that the target customer has published. For example, for the "tourist" type - "You should travel a lot to see your works, right?" Which city do you think is the best for retirement? "For the "food type" - "Do you make all the food in your works?" Looking at the color, flavor, and taste, is it professional? "Do you like to take selfies? - "I see that your works are all selfies, and I want to take some of my own recently, but I feel that my face is quite fat, do you have any skills?" ”…… There's something for everyone.
After getting acquainted with it, the topic was slowly led to "work". "Skincare mentors" often appear as professional skincare personal trainers, and do not promote products, but are "kind" to see if there are skin problems for the sisters, if the other party reveals confusion about skin troubles, they will ask to add WeChat on the grounds of "sending skin care knowledge documents", and gradually guide the other party to buy their own company's cosmetics.
Xiaofeng in Guizhou was precisely "hunted". In March this year, an unfamiliar netizen first liked and followed Xiaofeng's Douyin work to attract her attention, and after she became curious, she began to enter the steps of chatting. "The other party created the image of a noble son from a poor family, saying that he and I are fellow countrymen, graduated from Wuhan University, and worked as a dermatologist in Zhongshan, Guangdong." Xiaofeng recalled that the other party did not directly enter the theme of skin care, but talked about topics such as family life, emotional outlook, marriage outlook, etc., but on the third day, the other party began to talk about work, and then turned the topic to skin care, and sent nearly 55 voices before and after, first telling about his work experience: 6 years of research experience, becoming a skin care trainer for brands such as Estee Lauder, Helena, La Mer, etc., and even being able to join the product development of a series of brands, and then began to ask Xiaofeng about the skin problems he encountered, and came to the cause of the above symptoms - sebaceous film damage.
"Damaged sebaceous film" is a common phrase used by "skincare instructors". In the training materials provided by Alain, the reporter of "IT Times" saw almost word-for-word content, "All skin problems are due to skin dehydration and lack of collagen, and they are all because the sebaceous membrane is not well maintained...... and Zhang Teng has also been trained in similar words.
In fact, most of these "skin care mentors" are recruited through the Internet, and their knowledge background has little to do with skin care, biochemistry and other majors, and they are usually trained for two days after entry, and the content is mainly "corporate culture", "skin care strategy" and the most important "drainage", "what consumers like, talk to her, and provide emotional value for each other." Zhang Teng told reporters.
Soon after joining the company, the boss asked Alain to pretend to be a "male mentor" to chat with customers, and she chose to leave.
"Love" and "affection" that are mass-produced
Female consumers who are "hunted".
Female consumers who have passed precise screening will find it difficult to extricate themselves once they fall into the "rose trap".
Wu Min (pseudonym), who is over half a hundred years old, is a singing enthusiast. In January 2022, a stranger nicknamed "Jing 2" commented under her national karaoke work - "You sing very well, but your breath is a little insufficient." Then the other party applied to add friends and exchange singing skills.
The story after that is exactly the same as Li Yan and Ran Ran. The other party told Wu Min that he graduated from a medical university in the south, majoring in dermatology, returned to the north due to his parents, and decided to open his own sales company, and then sent moon cakes, zongzi, foot soaking bags, and went to the temple to pray for blessings, plus bedtime stories and daily greetings and sensational words, "I have grown up to this age, and no one has ever cared so much about myself." Soon, Wu Min developed a deep dependence on him.
Wu Min's first order was a skin care package worth nearly 2,000 yuan, and since then, it has been out of control, and in 2022 alone, she has spent tens of thousands of yuan. Once, the other party "matched" 32 boxes of facial masks for her in one go, each box had 5 tablets, as well as probiotic drinks and external products, "There are so many that I can't use them up, but he said that it is good for the body, and I believe it." Wu Min reluctantly told the "IT Times" reporter, "During that time, I felt like I was in a Gu, and I believed everything he said." ”
Just like the "health care product routine" and "fake Jin Dong" incidents that were exposed before, these so-called "family affection" and "love" are mass-produced and used to "hunt" women who are simple-minded, emotionally empty, or are under great pressure.
Ran Ran admitted that at that time, he was in extreme anxiety and depression due to heavy work tasks and family emergencies, and the appearance of his "younger brother" seemed to have allowed him to find an emotional outlet.
"Just imagine, every day there is someone who greets you in the morning, noon and evening, and shares your daily life while asking for warmth, and suddenly one day you don't share, what would it be like? Many girls enjoy this emotional value. Zhang Mei also fell into the same "routine".
"Be kind to yourself, after all, the current era is to understand your inner life through your appearance, have a good image, and you will get a lot of differences" "Women themselves have to be kind to themselves, you dress yourself up better, you make yourself more valuable"...... These seemingly heartfelt words are confirmed as a common discourse in a group composed of "victims", which are carried from the Internet, and the "skin care mentors" usually chat with multiple consumers at the same time, and the messages are mostly sent in groups.
However, for married women, these "cares" from the opposite sex outside of marriage become a nightmare. A number of female consumers who were "tricked" refused to be interviewed by reporters, "afraid of being known by their husbands", although they only accepted a little "virtual warmth". And this worry has even led many female consumers to delete their chat records after discovering that they have been "tricked", and there is no hope of protecting their rights.
Because of the skin allergy of using the product, in the process of looking for answers on social platforms, Wu Min realized that he had fallen into the "trap" of the other party, and began a long road of rights protection, "I can understand that they are promoting products for the sake of promotion, but they should not deceive consumers' feelings." ”
Recommended products "From thrift to luxury"
The magic "collagen peptides"
For Xiaofeng's skin, "fellow countrymen" sent two products from Yidijia's official mini program: 300ml of hydrating and soothing spray and 100g of moisture-source moisturizing essence milk, with prices of 180 yuan and 198 yuan respectively.
The price of this product does not seem to be expensive, but Zhang Teng told reporters that in order to eliminate the doubts of female consumers, the products recommended by the "skin care mentor" are usually "from thrift to luxury", first one or two hundred yuan of ordinary water milk, and after slowly winning the trust, it is an expensive "internal adjustment" product, and the price is often tens of thousands of yuan.
As a female consumer, the reporter of "IT Times" added the WeChat of several "skin care mentors" of Ameiyan and Yi's family. Soon, in Ameiyan's "skin care mentor", the reporter's skin problem had a solution: a set of external product packages with an activity price of 1099 yuan, including freeze-dried powder, hydration kit, mask, secondary throwing and massager, but the other party immediately emphasized, "three points for external use, seven points for internal adjustment".
"The so-called internal adjustment is oral collagen peptides, and it takes at least one course of treatment to see the effect." Ameiyan's "skin care mentor" sent a picture with "collagen peptide drink" written on it, the price is 489 yuan per box, 20 packs per box, 3 boxes are needed a month, a course of treatment is three months, and the total price is 4401 yuan.
"You're losing too much collagen." Another "skin care mentor" from Yi's family also gave a similar plan, "Serious water loss, dry skin, poor metabolism, and uneven skin tone, spots and other problems." When analyzing the cause of the problem, the same words such as "sebaceous membrane damage" and "three points for external use, seven points for internal adjustment" appeared again, and the other party's "three under five divided by two" gave a set of "internal adjustment and external maintenance improvement plan" with a price of 1723 yuan, which was also "oral supplementation of collagen titanium". In Yidijia's official mall, a product called "YS36 Collagen Peptide Fruity Drink (Fourth Generation)" is priced at 498 yuan, with 18 bags per box, which is close to the price of Ameiyan.
The magical "collagen peptide" was on the hot search in April this year. Netizen "Huahua" posted a video saying that her mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and it took her a year and a debt of 200,000 yuan to make up the surgery fee, but she learned that her mother used the money saved to buy skin care products that claimed to "contain collagen peptides" and "can prevent cancer". After the video was released, the live broadcast room selling skin care products was blocked due to false publicity.
If "anti-cancer" is fake, is oral "collagen peptide" collagen supplementation effective? On the official website of Yidijia, the reporter found a patent certificate, which was authorized on October 18, 2019 under the title of "A Functional Peptide with Beauty Efficacy and Its Preparation Method and Use". On the official website of the State Intellectual Property Office, the reporter found this patent, in its description, the raw materials of elastin are taken from the cervical ligaments and aortic vessels of mammals such as pigs, horses, cattle and sheep, the aortic vessels of birds, and the arterial ball (heart) of fish, and the raw materials of collagen are fish skin, "The process of the present invention is simple to operate, the production cost is low, there is no pollution, and the obtained compound peptide product (elastin peptide and collagen peptide composite product) has obvious beauty efficacy." ”
However, Ruan Guangfeng, director of the Science and Technology Department of the Kexin Food and Nutrition Information Exchange Center, previously said in an interview with the media that collagen is a large molecule that must be broken down into small molecule amino acids before it can be absorbed, and collagen peptides are partially decomposed collagen, but the absorption rate is still not high. Wang Yumei, former director of the Department of Nutrition of the First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua University, also believes that oral collagen does not play much role in improving human skin.
Dr. Liu Lihong, former deputy chief physician of the Laser Plastic Surgery Center of the Army General Hospital and member of the Standing Committee of the Facial Rejuvenation Branch of the China Plastic Surgery Association, told the IT Times reporter that the effect of supplementing collagen simply by drinking collagen drinks is still controversial in scientific research. Some studies have shown that moderate intake of collagen supplements may help improve skin elasticity, reduce joint pain, and more, but these studies tend to have small sample sizes and inconsistent results. In general, when taking collagen, stomach acid breaks them down into amino acids and small peptides, so not all ingested collagen can be directly used by the body to produce new collagen.
As for the statement of "three points for external use, seven points for internal adjustment", Professor Zhao Xiaozhong, a dermatologist from the former Air Force General Hospital and the founder of the current "Xiaozhong Lige Medical Beauty Chain", believes that the health of the skin cannot be generally defined as the proportion of internal adjustment and skin care to achieve, in fact, the two are not at the same level. "We don't agree with this understanding of the relationship between skin and health." He stressed.
Yidijia claimed on its official website that after drinking collagen, "wrinkle indicators decreased in 4~8 weeks", but at the bottom of its promotional picture, it added a description that "the above are all nutritional science knowledge, not direct efficacy" and "this product cannot replace special foods such as health food". In the naming of its products, Yidijia also refers to these "internal products" as beverages.
On Jingdong, the price of three boxes of "Five Female Doctors" small molecule fish collagen peptide drinks (30 bottles of oral liquid), which ranked first on the beauty collagen hot list, is 252 yuan.
Companies that are frequently deregistered
Inextricably linked
During the investigation, the names of cosmetics brands such as Yan Shimei, Ameyan, and Ameyu appeared among different complainants, and their sales patterns were similar. In fact, it's hard to tell the efficacy of these brands without looking at the final items received.
The major shareholders of Guangzhou Aibaiyi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd., the filing parties of Yanshimei, are Guangzhou Fengchen Trading Co., Ltd.
"We are also victims", after realizing that he had been deceived, Ran Ran also contacted the "headquarters" in Zeng Moumou's mouth - Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd., but the other party said that he was also a "victim", and had already issued a statement in September 2023, saying that "dealers in a district in Nanning will terminate all business cooperation from September 2, 2023 due to violating the company's dealer management system." ”
In December 2023, under Ran Ran's questioning, a person claiming to be Yi's family counsel said that Ran Ran and Yi's family would work together to call the police. Later, after Ran Ran repeatedly questioned Yi's family counsel, the other party said that the police had accepted the case, but could not disclose the details.
However, when the reporter called the person to ask for an interview, the other party said that the reporter had made a mistake. It was not until the reporter asked for an interview again through the official website and legal phone that the person called back and said that he had reported to the police at the Donghuan Street Police Station in Panyu District, Guangzhou, but did not show the reporter the police's receipt of acceptance.
This person replied that the dispute between Ran Ran and Zeng Moumou had nothing to do with the platform, and because Ran Ran did not trade through the platform, but directly transferred money to Zeng Moumou, it was difficult to confirm the product orders received by Ran Ran.
According to the contact information provided by Ran Ran, the reporter dialed Zeng's phone, but no one number answered, and after the other number was connected, he was hung up after hearing the reporter ask "whether it is Zeng".
In the one-month investigation, the reporter contacted female consumers all over the country, involving multiple brands, "skin care mentors" in many places, and collected training scripts, words, marketing models, and storylines are the same, and even found that some "skin care mentors" were complained about and changed brands to continue to "routine" other consumers. On the entire wall of honorary certificates provided to reporters by Ameiyan's "skin care mentor", the words "Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd." appeared.
On many social platforms, complaints, complaints, and feedback about these cosmetics brands abound, so are the brands aware of the marketing methods of these "skin care mentors"?
The reporter of "IT Times" asked Yidijia legal counsel for verification on "the relationship between Yidijia and the distribution company" and "whether Yidijia knows about the marketing method of the brand salesperson", and the other party responded: "Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd. is an e-commerce company that operates Yidijia Mall, which is similar to Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo and Vipshop. The mall is home to a large number of merchants, who sell various products such as skin care products, clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, nutritional food, general food, and daily chemical products to consumers. The relationship between Yidi's company and the merchant is that of an e-commerce platform operator and an e-commerce operator. ”
In addition, the other party also said: "Now the network information is one-sided, false, and unverifiable, and our Internet companies do not know the origin of the matter, without verification, and do not know why there are complaints, nor do we know whether these complaints are true and whether they are directly related to our company." YANSMY is a cosmetics brand, and its products are sold in our store. However, our company is an e-commerce platform operator and does not have sales staff. ”
Some consumers reported that the salesperson they contacted said that they were employees of Yi's family. In this regard, the reporter also asked Yi's family counsel for verification, and the other party responded: "Our company has no way to control the network personnel not to fraudulently use our company's name." ”
"Every distributor will register their own company, and the brand side will call this process incubation, but when a distributor company is reported, they will say that the company is not theirs." Alain said.
Zhang Teng's previous company was "Zhongshan Chuangqian Network Technology Co., Ltd.", which was cancelled on October 18, 2023, and he told reporters that Gao Liying, the supervisor of Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd., is the "vice president of the group" that he often hears.
The reporter of "IT Times" asked Yidijia legal affairs to verify whether "Zhongshan Chuangqian Network Technology Co., Ltd.", "Zhongshan Yiyang Management Consulting Co., Ltd." and "Zhongshan Yiyue Network Technology Co., Ltd." are Yidijia dealers. The other party said, "After our query platform background, I have not found the same name as the company you informed. ”
However, on a recruitment website, Zhongshan Chuangqian Network Technology Co., Ltd. "introduced itself" as a "branch of the e-commerce project of Jingchuan Group", and Yi's home information on BOSS Zhipin shows that Yi's home is the e-commerce project of this Jingchuan Group, "with active network marketing as the basic model". According to the enterprise investigation, Guangzhou Yidijia Network Technology Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Jingchuan Information Technology Co., Ltd. have the same investor, Yang Hong.
The reporter of "IT Times" asked Yi's family counsel about the relationship between Yi's family and Jingchuan Group (Guangzhou Jingchuan Information Technology Co., Ltd.), but the other party said: "There is no relationship".
The enterprise found that Zhongshan Yiyang Management Consulting Co., Ltd. is a 100% shareholder of "Zhongshan Chuangqian Network Technology Co., Ltd.", with a total of 11 companies, of which 2 have been cancelled, and 2 new companies were registered in March and April this year. After inquiry, it can be seen that Zhongshan Yitao Network Technology Co., Ltd., which is controlled by Zhongshan Yiyang Management Consulting Co., Ltd., is still the distributor of Yi's home.
The cosmetics brands that were also complained about were Ameiyan and Ameiyu, whose "skin care mentor" told reporters that these two are high-end skin care brands under the time-honored cosmetics brand Kong Fengchun. Ameiyan's official website shows: "As Kong Fengchun's brands - Ameiyan and Ameiyu, it skillfully integrates nature and science...... but on Kong Fengchun's official website, the reporter did not inquire about Ameiyan's products.
To this end, the "IT Times" reporter asked the customer service staff of Kong Fengchun's official flagship store on an e-commerce platform, and when asked "whether Kong Fengchun has two series of skin care brands called Ameiyan and Ameiyu", the customer service responded "Yes"; But when the reporter asked for a link to the product, the customer service said, "We don't have it on our side."
The reporter of "IT Times" called "Hangzhou Kong Fengchun Cosmetics Co., Ltd.", and the staff who answered the phone said that he had never heard of the two products of Ameiyan and Ameiyu, and that he was only an administrative staff of the company and did not know the specific situation of the product.
As of press time, the reporter of "IT Times" called "Ameiyan Biotechnology Co., Ltd.", but the phone was not connected.
According to the enterprise investigation, there is no equity relationship between Ameiyan Biotechnology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Kong Fengchun Cosmetics Co., Ltd., to which the Ameiyan brand belongs.
As consumers who have been tricked on social platforms continue to speak out, new brands are beginning to emerge. Li Jun (pseudonym), who has worked for a period of time in another brand agency company that uses similar marketing methods, told reporters that the operation mode of the new brand is similar to that of Yi's home dealers. "The goal is for older women on platforms such as Douyin to establish a connection and build themselves as successful people, and then ask for warmth and win the hearts of the other party. In addition, small gifts such as flower tea and other worthless gifts will be given. For each order sold, the partner's commission accounts for 10%, the captain shares 30%, and the management team shares 40%. ”
Lawyer's point of view
It's the "Rose Trap" and it's the "Pig Killing Plate."
Xia Baishun, a practicing lawyer at Shanghai Yingdong Law Firm
According to the "Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Fraud", it is stipulated that where the value of public or private property is 3,000 to 10,000 yuan or more, 30,000 to 100,000 yuan or more, or 500,000 yuan or more, it shall be respectively found to be the crime of fraud as "relatively large amount", "huge amount", or "especially huge amount".
Regarding the above-mentioned case, Xia Baishun said that the so-called "pig killing plate", which is simply understood, is a fraud model that deceives trust through emotional links, thereby defrauding money. The story in the case fits these essential elements. "The main feature of the crime of fraud is that the criminals use fraudulent means to make the victim wrongly dispose of his property, which is also true in the case of the 'pig killing plate'." ”
He believes that the actions of these "younger brothers" in this case are suspected of illegal acts. Although this is different from the tactics adopted by emotional scammers in the past, packaging it as selling skin care products and other products, it cannot cover up the behavior of coercing and tricking female consumers to buy products that obviously exceed their own living standards by illegal or immoral means, so as to obtain high profits.
How can consumers stay rational and avoid being deceived? In Xia Baishun's view, there can be the following practices:
First, be more wary of sudden kindness, especially strangers you know out of thin air on the Internet; Second, it is best to discuss with close friends or family members before making major property decisions, after all, "the authorities are confused"; Third, it is recommended to choose brand skin care products with after-sales service guarantee as much as possible; Fourth: There are various forms of scammers, and it is recommended that you can consider reading some anti-fraud materials on a daily basis to improve your personal anti-fraud ability.
In addition, he said, this marketing model of the company in question is obviously very similar to many similar scams. If such a situation occurs, consumers who have not been defrauded of their money can report it to 12315 or report it directly to 110; If you have been defrauded of your money, please keep the evidence as much as possible at the first time, report to 110 as soon as possible, and do not block and delete the other party's contact information because of sadness or anger.