Sales SMS group sending chaos urgently needs to strengthen control
"Cancellation of campus loans" and "counterfeit platforms" become expert advice on the hardest hit areas of network telecom fraud
□ reporter Zhang Wei
Internet telecommunications fraud is making a comeback again. According to statistics released recently by Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute, from January 1 to June 30, 2020, a total of 368,205 pieces of public opinion information about online loan fraud were monitored on the entire network. Among them, negative public opinion accounted for nearly 80% of the total public opinion.
The negative public opinion information is mainly concentrated in six aspects: "cancellation of campus loans" scams, "counterfeit platform" scams, "online loan rebooking" scams, "banking flow" scams, "elimination of bad records" scams, and QR code scams. Among them, the negative public opinion information regarding the "cancellation of campus loans" scam is the most.
In recent years, the country has been more and more aggressive in combating fraud crimes, and cyber and telecommunications fraud that has been rampant for many years has been effectively curbed. However, this year's sudden outbreak of new crown pneumonia has caused online loan fraud to rise, and its forms of fraud and criminal methods are constantly updated.
Scams to cancel online loan accounts surge
Tailored specifically for young people
In the data disclosed by the Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute, from January 1 to June 30, 2020, a total of 368,205 pieces of public opinion information about online loan fraud were monitored on the entire network. Among them, 12,538 positive information, accounting for 3.41%; 67,359 neutral information, accounting for 18.29%; 288,308 negative information, accounting for 78.3%.
Among the 288,308 negative public opinion information about online loan fraud, 92,672 were related to “cancellation of campus loans”, accounting for 32.14%; 78,735 were “counterfeit platform” scams, accounting for 27.31%; 41,036 were “online loan brushing orders” scams, accounting for 32.14% The ratio was 14.23%; there were 26,015 scams about “swiping bank turnover”, accounting for 9.02%; 21,403 scams about “eliminating bad records”, accounting for 7.42%; 11,769 QR code scams, accounting for 4.08%; 16678 other negative information, Accounted for 5.78%.
"In these new criminal activities of online loan fraud, the criminals no longer just stare at the elderly’s pension savings, but also target the undergraduates or young people who have just started working. After defrauding these young people’s loans , Leaving them under the pressure of repaying the loan." said Xu Guangjian, a professor at the School of Public Administration of Renmin University of China.
In particular, the "write off campus loan" scam is "tailored" for young people. The above-mentioned public opinion data shows that the "Cancel Campus Loan" scam has the most negative public opinion information. This kind of scam mainly refers to the criminals who accurately grasp the victim's information and use the victim's campus loan record as an excuse to affect his personal credit. After causing the victim to panic, they use the name of canceling the campus loan record to induce the victim to visit many websites. The loan platform “disappeared” after depositing the money into the so-called “secure account”.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been a number of frauds involving "writing off campus loans" across the country. The victims are mainly school students or young people who have just graduated to work. According to the Telecom Fraud Analysis Report on Cancellation of Online Loan Accounts in the First Half of 2020 released by relevant agencies, scams for canceling online loan accounts have surged in the first half of 2020, with a month-on-month increase of 178% in April. Among them, 63% of the victims had not registered an online loan account before.
Ms. Liu is the victim of this type of fraud. On July 1 this year, Ms. Liu went to Bank of China Shijiazhuang Zhongshan Sub-branch to handle business. During this period, Ms. Liu had been talking with a man in the business hall while operating his mobile phone. The conversation lasted more than an hour. This action caused the bank to work. Attention of personnel. When the bank staff asked her about the business, Ms. Liu said that someone fraudulently used her information and opened an account online to make a loan. In order to destroy the loan record, she needs to borrow on the platform and transfer money to the loan platform staff. . After being reminded by the bank staff, Ms. Liu realized that she had been cheated and immediately called the police.
Ms. Liu said that the criminals first accurately reported her personal information about her graduate school and major, and then said that she had a campus loan account on 360 Loan. When Ms. Liu expressed doubts, the criminals said it might be Liu The lady's identity information is fraudulently used, and the account is registered by others. If it is not cancelled, it will affect the personal credit investigation. The criminals also sent Ms. Liu's QQ method to her work permit and information related to Ms. Liu's credit investigation to gain Ms. Liu's trust. Under the guidance of the criminals, Ms. Liu downloaded the online loan software step by step according to the requirements of the other party and borrowed. Finally, she borrowed nearly 130,000 yuan from Xiaomi Loan, Alipay Huabei and 360 Loan, and transferred the loans to the criminals.
Build a fake loan platform to cheat money
Require deposit for unfreezing fee
The "copycat platform" scam is also worth noting.
Among the negative public opinion information on online loan fraud in the first half of this year, the negative public opinion information on the "copycat platform" scam ranked second. This kind of scam mainly refers to criminals who set up false loan platforms to induce consumers to download apps and apply for loans with propaganda such as "second review", "easy to pass", "low interest and high quota". When the victim completes the information and quota in the app After the approval process, the criminals caused trouble with the wrong bank card number, credit problems, overdue records, too frequent applications, etc., informed the victim that the account was frozen and could not make payments, and required the victim to pay "unfreeze fee" and "security deposit" "Wait.
In June of this year, Mr. Cai needed capital turnover due to his renovation business. When he was worried that he had nowhere to raise money, he received a link message stating that he could make a loan in "Xihuo". Mr. Cai learned that "Micro Loan" is a formal Internet banking loan product of WeBank. It also has a banking license and is a formal financial lending institution. After consulting the customer service, the other party said that they can get a loan by filling in personal information. At first, Mr. Cai was a little skeptical, but thinking that it was a formal institution, he clicked on the link and downloaded an app called "Particle Finance", and then registered for real-name authentication. The system shows that he has a loan line of 40,000 yuan.
But when Mr. Cai planned to withdraw 40,000 yuan to the bank card, the system prompts that there is a digit input error in the card number and the account has been frozen. Mr. Cai immediately contacted the financial "customer service". "Customer service" said that it is necessary to pay 30% of the loan amount to do the flow transfer before the account can be unfrozen. Mr. Cai then transferred 12,000 yuan of "unfreeze gold" to the other party's account through his bank account in accordance with the requirements of the "customer service" staff. When Mr. Cai continued to operate the withdrawal, the system reminded the error again. It was then that Mr. Cai realized that he had been deceived, and instead of borrowing the money, he had lost 12,000 yuan.
After investigation by the police, the loan platform Mr. Cai encountered was a counterfeit software, which plagiarized Weiweidai from the name to the icon, counterfeited Weiweidai for false lending, collected security deposits, and unfrozen funds to cheat borrowers. Currently, the case is under investigation.
There is also a scam called "Online Loan Swap" that is more common. Among the negative public opinion information about online loan fraud in the first half of this year, the negative public opinion information about the “online loan scam” scam ranked third. This kind of scam mainly refers to criminals taking advantage of the victim’s part-time job to make money, falsely claiming to find the victim to engage in "online loan and ordering" business, and only need to use the identity of the victim to make online loans. The resulting principal and interest are both The other party will repay and pay the victim a certain commission to induce the victim to register on the online loan platform and apply for a loan. After the loan was applied for, the criminals took the loan as their own and lost contact immediately. The victim not only cannot make money, but also has to repay the principal and interest of the loan.
Improve laws and increase punishment
Online platform fulfills its duty of review
Chen Xuhui, data director of Beijing Sunshine Consumer Big Data Research Institute, said that through a summary analysis of public opinion data information, it can be found that online loan fraud has the following characteristics:
Diversified fraudulent methods. For example, criminals used the wrong information to fill in the wrong information, the freezing of the account to be unfrozen, and the proof of repayment ability by allowing consumers to register on a fake online loan platform to allow the victim to pay various fees for fraud.
The targets of fraud are widespread. In the past, victims of fraud incidents were mainly elderly people with relatively limited information access. However, the victims of online loan fraud were very wide, including not only school students, but also office workers and other people with higher education and social experience.
Virtualization of the criminal space. Unlike traditional scams, the entire operation of online loan scams is done in a virtual space. The criminals and the victims do not meet directly, but communicate through chat software, emails, and telephones. The identity of lawbreakers is concealed, and when they succeed, they will immediately destroy online and offline evidence, making it more difficult to crack down.
Criminal gangs become organized. With the intensification of efforts to rectify network telecommunications fraud, criminal gangs have gradually become grouped. Criminal gangs generally have a clear division of labor and have established corresponding reward and punishment mechanisms. In addition, in order to conceal people's eyes, the criminal group will package itself into a regular operating company.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the China Consumer Rights Protection Law Research Association, suggested: First, increase crackdowns and punishments. The current law regards network telecommunications fraud as a general crime of fraud, and penalties are imposed on criminals based on the actual illegal gains found. This lacks specificity in combating network telecommunications fraud. In this regard, only by improving the corresponding laws and regulations and increasing the penalties for network telecommunications fraud can the occurrence of fraud incidents be effectively reduced.
The second is to strengthen the protection of personal information. The public should increase their awareness of self-protection. Relevant departments and related companies need to cooperate together to regulate laws and policies, supervision, and industry self-discipline, so as to reduce the occurrence of information leakage incidents.
The third is to strengthen the responsibilities of operators. Telecom operators should not only strictly apply real-name cards and strictly examine user identities, but also strengthen control over the phenomenon of SMS group sales in the market. In response to common phishing links and false advertisements on the Internet, online platforms should fulfill their duty of censorship and block the spread of false information at the source.
The fourth is to enhance personal awareness of prevention. Due to the mixed network information and numerous online loan platforms, the public must carefully screen when applying for loans and choose formal institutions to handle business. In the process of applying for a loan, you should carefully review the terms and conditions. The regular online loan platform will not allow users to pay any deposit, service fee and other fees in advance. Any platform that requires transfers and deposits has problems, and you must always be vigilant.