Fictitious express delivery orders often cost hundreds of millions of yuan, "empty packages" are tricky
Baidu search for the keyword "empty package" will pop up a large number of websites that buy and sell "empty packages".
"Empty package" means an empty express package, which is actually a string of express tracking numbers.
What is the value of an express tracking number without physical goods?
Why do so many people want to buy it?
What kind of tricks are there behind?
Recently, the Public Security Bureau of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province uncovered a case of selling “empty packages” during the “Net Net 2020” special operation, seized more than 2,700 “empty package” websites at a time, and more than 40 criminal suspects were taken criminal coercive measures. Some well-known courier company employees were involved in the case.
This case revealed the tricks behind the "empty package" of express delivery.
Cross-border gambling borrowed "empty packages" to launder 10 billion yuan
In March 2019, the Wuxi police received an alarm. The victim Lin claimed to have bought an Apple mobile phone in the WeChat applet. The system showed that the merchant had shipped it and someone signed for it, but in fact he did not receive the mobile phone.
The network security detachment of Wuxi Public Security Bureau traced the source and found more than 2,700 "empty package" websites and the three major criminal groups behind the scenes.
So far, the Wuxi Public Security Bureau has arrested more than 40 people involved in the case from 15 cities, and has frozen more than 20 million yuan of funds involved in the case and 23 sets of real estate.
The Wuxi police were surprised to find that, in addition to the use of fraud, "empty packages" are used most often by criminals to create false online shopping records and disguise illegal transactions such as gambling funds as e-commerce shopping.
Wu Fangquan, deputy head of the cybersecurity detachment of the Wuxi Public Security Bureau, told reporters that in the first half of this year, the Lianyungang Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province and the Lishui Public Security Bureau of Zhejiang Province successively cracked cases of providing money laundering and recharging services for overseas gambling websites. The criminal gangs involved were all Using "empty bags" fictitious shopping records to complete gambling capital recharge, a total of more than 7.2 billion yuan.
In addition, a cross-border online gambling case being handled by the Binhu Branch of the Wuxi Public Security Bureau showed that multiple groups provided money laundering and recharge for the overseas gambling company involved. Two of the groups used "empty packages" to forge transactions and then Transfer funds through the QR code of merchants on the relevant e-commerce platform.
Wu Fangquan said that as early as 2016, the criminal gang involved in the case started building websites to sell "empty packages".
As of the time of the case, the transaction volume of "empty packages" that had been ascertained exceeded 600 million, and the illegal funds circulating were at least tens of billions of yuan.
Fictitious online transaction of black-and-ash production and courier company
How do criminals use "empty packages" to launder money?
Taking cross-border gambling as an example, Guan Lichao, the fourth-level police technical supervisor of the Cybersecurity Detachment of Wuxi City Public Security Bureau, explained to reporters the "empty package" money laundering path.
According to Guan Lichao, overseas gambling platforms do not directly collect gamblers' gambling funds, but transfer the information of gamblers' application for recharge to a fourth-party payment platform that specializes in money laundering of online black and gray products.
The "acceptor" in the downstream of the fourth-party payment platform finds the fictitious online shopping record of the "code merchant" and sends the QR code to the gamblers through the "code merchant".
"Code Merchant" is a provider of charged QR codes and merchants on e-commerce platforms.
After receiving the money, the "code merchant" transfers the money to the overseas gambling company level by level through the "acceptor" and the fourth-party payment platform.
The "empty package" is used when the "Code Store" fabricates online shopping records.
Guan Lichao told reporters that “Code Merchants” will register and set up a large number of stores on relevant e-commerce platforms. Once they receive the payment task, they will use the purchased “small number” to buy goods of the corresponding value in their own stores. Generate a payment QR code.
The "Code Merchant" sends the QR code to the gambler. After the gambler recognizes it, the money will enter the e-commerce platform account.
Generally speaking, to withdraw money from an e-commerce platform account, you must send a package of goods and wait for the other party to sign for it. However, the "code merchant" will not actually send the package, but purchase a courier number from the "empty package" website to indicate the goods Has been sent and signed for.
It is understood that the "empty package" website usually uses the information system of the courier company to fabricate the courier number, forge the delivery process and sign-for procedures, and then sell it to the "code merchant."
Guan Lichao revealed that in the "empty package" case uncovered in Wuxi, some well-known domestic express companies and even listed companies have provided "empty packages" to these 2,700 "empty package" websites, and some have special accounts. Open "empty packages", and some specialize in establishing information systems for docking "empty packages" business.
Some small express companies even only do "empty package" business.
According to the police, "Code Merchants" are mainly concentrated on individual e-commerce platforms with relatively loose internal management, even if the store registration and transaction records of these "Code Merchants" are obviously abnormal, such as one person registering hundreds of stores, or one store has an instant transaction volume. Thousands of pens, but no one traced it.
"From gambler recharge to fictitious transactions, the entire system is very complicated and runs on an information platform." Guan Lichao said, "This is also a trend in the development of the current network black and gray industry, that is, the division of labor is continuously refined and the flow of funds is increasing. It’s getting more complicated."
Wu Fangquan said that the use of "empty packages" to make gambling and other illegal funds exchanges falsely constitutes online shopping, disrupting the financial order and providing channels for the laundering and outflow of illegal funds.
However, since this crime is not easy to trace, it is difficult for the police to combat it.
Urgently need to take effective measures to govern
At present, more than 40 criminal suspects captured in this case have been taken criminal coercive measures.
These suspects are mainly the personnel involved in the express company, the middleman who resells the "empty package", the person in charge of the "empty package" website and relevant technical personnel.
Wu Fangquan said that at present, these criminal suspects are mainly held accountable for being suspected of helping information network crimes.
Currently, Baidu searches for "empty packages" and can still find a large number of websites that buy and sell "empty packages".
Guan Lichao told reporters that some of the "empty package" websites seized by the Wuxi police have been closed, a large number of websites are in a state of paralysis, and some are undergoing transformation.
Wuxi police investigations show that cross-border gambling platforms collect gambling funds through such channels, and the total cost of the entire funding channel is between 10%-15%.
Fourth-party payment platforms, "acceptors", "code merchants", and "empty package" websites all charge a certain percentage of handling fees, and e-commerce platforms and express companies have also benefited a lot.
Wu Fangquan introduced that some e-commerce platforms "open one eye and close one eye". Firstly, they see that sales performance has risen. Secondly, although the transaction is fictitious, a large amount of expenses such as store deposits and payment will still be deposited. E-commerce account.
For courier companies, "empty packages" not only increase the delivery volume, but also selling "empty packages" is almost a net profit. Each "empty package" ranges from 0.15 yuan to 2 yuan.
According to the relevant person in charge of the Internet Security Corps of the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Department, judging from the cases cracked by the police in various parts of Jiangsu, this new type of cybercrime is showing an upward trend. Through streamlining operations, the boundaries of crimes in all links are blurred to avoid traditional supervision and evade the law. responsibility.
The police and experts appealed to both plug loopholes and strengthen supervision.
On the one hand, it is necessary to urge the relevant e-commerce platforms to fulfill their social responsibilities, proactively discover and remove false stores with abnormal registrations and transactions on the platform, and take effective measures to strengthen internal control, so that criminals should not be "backdoored" for performance; , A large number of courier companies have linked up with Internet black and gray products and participated in the sale of "empty packages", indicating that there is a certain gap in the supervision of courier companies, especially data supervision, and it is urgent to strengthen.
Text/Xinhua News Agency