Fans chased stars, but found business opportunities from them and became "scalpers".
In order to chase the "star", some fans go to the airport to pick up and drop off the plane, so that they can shoot and contact the star at close range. This has allowed some criminals to see the so-called "business opportunities" from it, and they illegally obtain and sell the personal information of citizens such as flight itineraries and ID numbers of celebrities to make profits.
The reporter learned from the People's Procuratorate of Chaoyang District, Beijing, that a female fan made a cumulative profit of more than 20,000 yuan for reselling the artist's flight information, and was recently sentenced to seven months in prison by the Chaoyang Court for infringing on citizens' personal information.
The woman was sentenced to 7 months in prison for reselling the artist's flight information, and the prosecutor introduced that the 22-year-old woman Zhang Moumou used to be a fan of an artist. In order to be able to photograph his idol up close, Zhang Moumou purchased the artist's flight information through an airline outsourcing staff, successfully took a recent photo of the idol, and posted the photo on social platforms to show off. After tasting the sweetness, Zhang Moumou successively purchased the flight numbers of many artists to carry out the "proxy shooting" business.
At the end of 2022, a netizen saw the artist's airport photo posted by Zhang Moumou on social software and asked her if she could buy the artist's flight number. Zhang Moumou then found that it was profitable to buy and sell the artist's personal information, so he bought the artist's travel information at the price of 80 yuan a piece, and then sold it to the family at a price of 180 yuan, and earned the difference from it.
From the end of 2022 to this year, Zhang Moumou bought and sold more than 100 pieces of personal information of artists, with a cumulative profit of more than 20,000 yuan. After the prosecutor explained the law and reasoned, Zhang Moumou returned the illegal gains.
In August this year, the Chaoyang Procuratorate prosecuted Zhang Moumou in accordance with the law for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information, and at the same time filed a civil public interest lawsuit attached to the criminal case, demanding that Zhang Moumou compensate for public interest damage and publicly apologize.
The Chaoyang Court recently made a judgment in this case: Zhang Moumou was sentenced to seven months in prison and fined for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information; At the same time, it was ordered to pay 23,000 yuan in compensation for damages to the public interest, and publicly apologize to the public for the infringement of citizens' personal information in the news media at or above the provincial level. Zhang's predecessor, an outsourced employee of an airline, was dealt with in a separate case.
According to CCTV News in June this year, Shanghai handled two related cases, and the four defendants were sentenced for infringing on citizens' personal information.
At the end of 2023, the Jing'an police in Shanghai found that some people were selling citizens' personal information such as celebrities' flight itineraries on online social platforms.
After a series of investigations, in January 2024, the police arrested Yin and Wu in Shanghai, and Lian and Guo in Shenyang, Liaoning. In March, the police transferred four defendants in the two cases to the Jing'an District People's Procuratorate in Shanghai for review and prosecution on suspicion of infringing on citizens' personal information.
The investigators found that the information sold by the defendant included the identity information of celebrities, mobile phone numbers, flight itineraries, etc. The defendant sold the celebrity's flight information at a price ranging from 5 yuan to 10 yuan to fans in need. And the star ID number in their hands is purchased in bulk from the previous family at a price of dozens of yuan, and then sold separately.
Forensically appraised:
Defendant Yin provided and sold more than 10,000 pieces of star flight itinerary information to others, with illegal gains of more than 23,000 yuan, and defendant Wu sold more than 2,000 pieces of star flight itinerary information to others, with illegal gains of more than 7,000 yuan.
Defendants Lian XX and Guo XX jointly sold more than 2,000 pieces of celebrity ID numbers and flight information, with illegal gains of more than 12,000 yuan.
In the end, the four defendants were sentenced to 3 years in prison, suspended for 3 to 6 months in prison, suspended for 1 year and other different sentences for the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information, and were also fined.
In the course of the review and handling of the case, the procuratorate also found that the defendant's direct purchase on the Internet and the use of airline loopholes to make inquiries were the main ways for the defendant to illegally obtain information on star flights.
On some Internet platforms, there is a large amount of information about the sale and purchase of celebrity flight itineraries, which uses obscure words, symbols, and icons.
It was in such a place that the four defendants searched for information on their purchases, and then traded them in bulk to those in need through WeChat. In addition, a considerable part of the flight information was directly queried by the defendant on the airline's official website using the purchased star ID number.
In the course of handling the case, the prosecutor learned that many airlines have been aware of the potential safety hazards in the query and management systems, and have gradually improved and upgraded them. In particular, the prosecutor reminded that it is illegal to buy citizens' personal information.
At present, the public security organs are further digging into the upstream and downstream industrial chains involved in the case.
The police remind: Any infringement of citizens' personal information is an illegal act, and the circumstances are serious and constitute a crime. With regard to chaos such as the sale of celebrity information, the public security organs have always maintained a high-pressure posture, adhering to the principle of "discovering together, investigating and punishing together, and severely punishing together". Buying celebrities' personal information not only violates the artist's right to privacy, but also promotes the unhealthy trend of illegal information trading, so we should establish the concept of rational star chasing, respect the privacy of idols, express love through legal channels, and jointly maintain a healthy and clean social environment.
This article is reprinted from the WeChat public account of "CCTV", source: CCTV Comprehensive CCTV News, Jimu News, Beijing Daily client, and Cyber Security Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security