The "Requirements for the Administration of Online Game Service Consumption for Minors (Draft for Comments)" released on May 28, 2024 fills the gap in the standards for minors' online consumption and extends to a new type of profession - professional refunders.
Xiao Rui (pseudonym), who claims to be a professional refund intermediary for games and other platforms, said that the game refund industry is "making a lot of money with the smallest cost". Because his younger brother recharged nearly 9,000 yuan on the game platform, he appealed for his younger brother and got a refund, thus becoming a professional refund intermediary, "Promising a full refund and an adult refund, 99% of them are scammers." ”
While minors can get refunds, a new type of "refund scam" is also extended.
Li Xing (pseudonym) fell for such a scam. She saw someone on the social platform saying that the refund was successful, and after adding the other party's WeChat, the other party pushed the WeChat of "legal counsel". As a result, she was cheated of 300 yuan.
The screenshot of the successful refund with P, which is a common routine used by some "legal consulting" companies, after directing the other party to WeChat, asking the other party to pay the "service fee", and then "playing missing". Not only is the picture P's, but even the "legal affairs" of the legal consulting company are graduates of technical secondary schools and do not have any legal knowledge background. The reporter also found that some legal consulting companies were cancelled after only 3 months of registration.
Zhu Wei, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that professional refunders have turned refunds into a professional behavior, which is reasonable in itself, but in reality, "professional refunds often become a gimmick for fraud, which is actually a variant of telecom fraud."
The reporter searched on multiple social platforms with keywords such as "game refund" and found that someone posted that he had found a refunder, but he fell into a scam because of this.
"Promises of a full refund are basically scammers"
The Requirements for the Administration of Online Game Service Consumption for Minors (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) released on May 28, 2024 fills the gap in the standards for minors' online consumption, and for the first time proposes provisions such as refining refund standards and suggestions, and clearly delineating the relevant responsibilities of online game service providers and guardians.
Xiao Rui, an intermediary who claimed to be doing refunds on platforms such as games, told reporters that the game refund industry is "making a lot of money with the smallest cost".
He said that at first, he recharged nearly 9,000 yuan because his younger brother had recharged nearly 9,000 yuan on two game platforms, and he appealed for a refund of 3,300 yuan. "The children in the same village also play the same game, and when they heard that I had a successful refund, they came to ask me," Xiaorui said, and then he slowly started this business.
Xiaorui said that they generally go to litigation (refund), because the amount involved in recharging is very small, and game companies generally do not choose to go to court, because they need to spend more money than this fee to deal with the lawsuit, they would rather choose mediation, but mediation generally will not refund the full amount. If the amount of money involved is large, then the gaming company may be reluctant to give up.
"Many of the children's parents are in rural areas, and both parents don't know anything about these things, but in fact, if they have enough information, they can get a refund." Xiaorui said that otherwise the industry would not have risen so quickly. He said that he charges 10% of the introduction fee, and will also pay 100 yuan in advance for the person who comes to consult, "The step that I usually have to pay in advance, (the two parties) have already talked about it, and after I pay in advance, they will sign the contract." ”
He said that many lawyers do not look down on this kind of case. Because a formal lawyer consultation costs more money and a court hearing costs thousands of dollars, many law firms for online refunds do not have lawyers, including his company, which actually has no lawyers.
He claimed that there are many successful cases of refunds, but he also admitted that there are indeed many scammers, and he has seen people who want to refund but are deceived thousands of yuan, "As long as you promise a full refund and you can refund as an adult, 99% of them are scammers." ”
The Paper noticed that there is a "rights protection center" on the e-commerce platform that claims to help refund fees. In the current case, it can basically be between 60% and 100%, and children under the age of 8 can do 99% to 100%, and the specific amount of refund can be given after 1-to-1 communication with the "director".
Can adults recharge games for refunds? The other party said that if the customer is induced to spend or mistakenly flush or help his minor siblings apply for a refund, they can accept the entrustment. "You can cooperate with us, your situation, we have dealt with it many times before, and the success rate is very high, please take a look at any link in our store now."
After Li Xing paid a "service fee" of 300 yuan, he was blocked by the other party. Provided by the interviewee
Multiple social platforms for traffic drainage
Minors can get refunds, and some adults are getting ready to make a move. At the same time, a new type of "refund scam" has also been extended.
The surging news investigation found that some people disguised themselves as users with successful refunds, and posted screenshots of successful refunds on social or second-hand trading platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Xianyu to attract traffic, leading potential customers from various social platforms to WeChat, and then guiding consumers to pay "service fees" as "legal advice" and "legal affairs", signing contracts or verbal promises, but finally unable to refund and disappear, which is a way to collect money from some refund scams.
Recently, the reporter searched on multiple social platforms with keywords such as "game refund" and found that someone posted that he had found a refunder, but he fell into a scam. When someone posts that adults can also get a refund, there will be many people in the comment area who urgently ask "how to refund", "teach me" and "ask for advice", and then someone will hint at them to add WeChat chat under their posts.
Zhang Yue (not her real name) and Li Xing have both fallen for such scams.
In May 2024, Zhang Yue sold a game account on the second-hand trading website "Xianyu" and was targeted by scammers.
"The scammer sent a message in my comment area, and I privately messaged him to ask if the 'Egg Boy Party' account could be refunded, and the other party packed the ticket and said that it could be refunded, and the package was successful." She said that after that, she added the other party's WeChat, and added a so-called "in-house counsel" to pay a deposit of 200 yuan.
Zhang Yue also suspected that the other party was a liar, and searched for the company according to the other party's corporate WeChat, and the national enterprise credit information publicity system showed that the company existed, but in the follow-up refund, the other party's information reply began to become very slow. "Send it in the morning and return it in the evening, and invent it in the afternoon". In the end, he didn't reply directly, and blocked Zhang Yue.
Zhang Yue said that her friend saw that she was refunding the fee, and also tried to refund the fee, thinking that it could be successful, but in the end she was also deceived. In the picture released by Zhang Yue, the company involved is "Haikou Longhua Weiyilu Information Consulting Studio".
Tianyancha information shows that the studio was established on April 23, 2024 and is an individual industrial and commercial household, and the studio is currently in a state of cancellation.
Another person who was also "recruited" was Zhao Lin (pseudonym), who recharged nearly 20,000 yuan on the live broadcast platform. He also signed a refund contract under a similar routine and paid 1,000 yuan to the other party, but in the end, the refund was not successful, and only 200 yuan was refunded. Zhao Lin said that this kind of company generally charges 5% of the full amount in the name of law or consulting, and sometimes signs a contract with the person who wants to refund the fee, claiming that the live broadcast reward and game recharge can be refunded.
Zhao Lin said that on Douyin, he saw a video promoting refunds, and in the comment section of the video, someone said that he had paid money and refunded at their house, so he chatted with the other party.
The contract he showed reporters showed that the company involved was "Harbin Zhongzhu Legal Consulting Services Co., Ltd." According to the contract signed by the two parties, the service fee is agreed to be "basic consulting service fee of 1,000 yuan (paid on the day of signing this agreement)" and "5% of the refund amount for the rights protection service fee". The contract also stipulates that if the contract is terminated or the entrusted affairs cannot be completed due to reasons not attributable to Party B, Party A shall pay Party B the stage service fee for the completed part of the work. The contract also stipulates that the results of the specific rights protection refund progress will be available within 7 to 20 working days, which may be advanced, postponed or postponed, which is a normal phenomenon.
Li Xing added the WeChat of "Longhua Jiaye Legal Counsel", and the other party asked her to pay 300 yuan. Provided by the interviewee
"Circle money" in the name of legal advice
Li Xing's experience is roughly the same. She recharged more than 2,000 yuan by playing "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" and wanted to return it. On Xiaohongshu, she saw someone say that she had successfully refunded the fee, so she added this person's WeChat.
Li Xing told reporters that the other party clearly told her that he had successfully refunded the fee, and also pushed her a WeChat business card of "Longhua Jiaye Legal Counsel". After she added her WeChat, the other party asked her to fill in the date, name, ID number, phone number and other information, and said, "Fill it in, and then make a contract", the other party sent her a company corporate account, and asked her to pay 300 yuan, "I will deal with it after payment."
On November 8, she asked the other party how long it would take to get a refund, and the other party said "3-15 working days". When asked if he needed to provide the QQ number of the bound game, the other party only said "listen to the teacher".
"As soon as they came up to me and told me to sign the contract, I thought that I would not be deceived after signing the contract, but I didn't expect to be deceived after signing it." Li Xing said that the other party asked her to sign a "legal consulting service agreement" and a corporate account, which made her think that the other party should not be a liar.
However, before paying, Li Xing was still a little suspicious, she wanted to pay through the second-hand trading platform Xianyu, but the other party did not let her go to the platform. At the same time, the netizen who previously recommended "legal counsel" for her has been urging her to pay as soon as possible.
A few days after Li Xing filled in the information and transferred 300 yuan, she asked about the progress of the refund, but the "legal counsel" never replied to the message. On November 14, she called the other party on WeChat, but the other party did not answer. On the evening of November 21, when she sent a message again, she found that she had been blocked by the other party. She realizes that she has been scammed.
According to the homepage of the "Legal Consulting Service Agreement" she provided to The Paper, the entrusted person is "Haikou Longhua Jiaye Information Consulting Studio". The reporter inquired and found that the studio is a self-employed industrial and commercial household, which was just established on August 13, 2024, and its business projects: information technology consulting services; real estate consulting; information consulting services (excluding licensed information consulting services), etc.
It is worth noting that Haikou Longhua Jiaye Information Consulting Studio, like the Haikou Longhua Weiyilu Information Consulting Studio encountered by Zhang Yue mentioned above, is currently in a state of cancellation.
The successful case of refund is actually P-chart
In August 2024, the blogger "Filter Crusher" of Station B learned through an unannounced visit in the past two months that the screenshot of the successful refund of these legal consulting companies on behalf of the refund is actually a P picture, and the company's "legal affairs" are actually graduates of secondary school.
"Filter Crusher" blogger "Mr. Bi" introduced that when he and his colleagues were trying out at two legal consulting companies in Harbin, they found that someone had just tricked a netizen into paying a "service fee" of 2,000 yuan through a social platform, and the company's employees were cheering and celebrating.
In the interview, an interviewer at a legal consulting firm said that it doesn't matter if employees don't understand the law, "just talk to them and push the information to sales." Another interviewer from another company also said that there was no need for legal expertise. During the unannounced visit, "Mr. Bi" found that none of the company's "legal affairs" had a legal knowledge background, and one of the "legal affairs" was a secondary school graduate.
In the video, "Mr. Bi" introduced that the customer service staff of these two companies have not been working for long, and their main task is to drain traffic. "It's to post on social platforms as a victim, or guide customers, create the same experience as them, say it pitifully, complain together, and then close the distance, and finally slowly guide the refund." The screenshot of the successful refund is from the company's employee P picture, and the date and specific time are modified, and it is sent to the social platform for drainage.
The evolution of telecom fraud, the cost of rights protection is too high
On December 3, Zhu Wei, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said in an interview with The Paper that professional refunders have turned refunds into a professional behavior, and some refunds involve minors.
"In reality, professional refunds often become a gimmick for fraud, which is actually a variant of telecom fraud." Zhu Wei said that telecom fraud is constantly evolving with the development of policies, industries, including technology, and the speed is very fast. Some legal consulting companies or individuals, under the banner of "professional refund", pretend to be professional lawyers or legal counsel, fabricate the refund effect, and ask the victim to pay a "service fee" of 3500 yuan, which is actually a telecommunications fraud, even if they really go to the refund, it is often unsuccessful, which may also involve false publicity.
Regarding the legal consulting company, Zhu Wei said that it is not a law firm, "the nature is more complicated, and it is also strange", it is registered with the industrial and commercial department, it seems to be a legal service company, but in fact it does not have legal service qualifications, cannot undertake litigation, and cannot even accept the entrustment of the parties.
Zhu Wei said frankly that for victims, if they encounter a refund scam on a social platform, they can report it to the platform. In addition, the company involved can also be reported to the local market supervision department. Finally, the victim can also choose to report to the police, but because the amount of money involved is small, it is also questionable whether the police will file a case.
Xing Xin, a lawyer at Hunan Jinzhou Law Firm, believes that according to the "Requirements for the Administration of Online Game Service Consumption for Minors (Draft for Comments)", minors over the age of eight can apply for a refund if they recharge a large amount of games without the consent of their guardians. In contrast, as a person with full capacity for civil conduct, an adult's game recharge behavior is generally regarded as a voluntary and effective consumption behavior, so he does not enjoy the same refund protection as minors.
Xing Xin said that for consumers, the so-called "information consulting company" or individual uses social platforms to attract traffic and claims to be able to help refund, if in fact there is no ability or intention to help the refund, but for the purpose of illegal possession, through fabricating facts or concealing the truth to defraud others of property, this behavior not only constitutes civil fraud, but also may constitute the crime of fraud if the total amount involved reaches the amount of criminal filing.
Xing Xin pointed out that according to Article 68 of the Civil Code and Articles 19 and 20 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Company Law, if the company has committed illegal acts or failed to liquidate in accordance with the law before deregistration, resulting in the inability to pay off the debts, then the shareholders and actual controllers of the original company may need to bear the corresponding legal responsibility for the company's debts.
However, in actual cases, consumers often give up protecting their rights because the amount is too small, and have the mentality of "spending money to eliminate disasters". Xing Xin said that the amount does not affect the establishment of fraud, and if the total amount of fraud of the other party reaches the standard, it may be investigated for committing fraud. However, for individual victims, it is more difficult to protect the rights of fraud with a small amount, and the cost of rights protection is too high compared with the cost of rights protection.
Editor: Wu Jiahong
Source: The Paper