The State Administration of Market Supervision announced the second batch of typical cases of online false propaganda and unfair competition, exposing ways to brush traffic, fake transactions, and send empty packages, etc.
"Swiping orders and speculating letters" has formed a network black and gray industry
The State Administration of Market Supervision announced the second batch of typical cases of online false publicity and unfair competition, involving four different types of ordering methods, fictitious attention and traffic in "live delivery", hiring professional teams, "swiping hands", and false transactions Expose the behavior of "swiping orders and speculating letters" by shooting A and sending B, "sending an empty package" and other methods.
In recent years, the “monetization” of traffic has brought huge economic benefits, which not only drove the vigorous development of the network economy, but also led to the increasingly renewed behavior of “swiping orders and speculating letters” through “cheating” methods.
“Swiping orders and speculating letters” not only damages the market order of fair competition, but also causes the negative effect of “bad money drives out good money”. It also deceives and misleads consumers to make subjective judgments that are contrary to reality to a large extent, harming the majority of people. The legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
In 2021, the State Administration of Market Supervision will carry out a nationwide special rectification of anti-unfair competition law enforcement in key areas, intensify the supervision of online unfair competition behavior, and severely crack down on the organization of professional teams, the use of online adverts, online celebrities, well-known bloggers, and live broadcasts. Unfair competition behaviors such as "swiping orders and speculating letters", false propaganda, etc., are carried out by means of bringing goods.
As of the first half of 2021, market regulatory authorities at all levels across the country have investigated and handled 3,128 cases of unfair competition, with a fine of 206 million yuan.
Fictitious attention and traffic in "live streaming"
The rise and development of e-commerce makes consumers more likely to rely on "content evaluation" to purchase and consume goods or services, and at the same time, "content evaluation" also brings greater "drainage effects" for operators.
However, the "monetization" of traffic has also led to the "cheating" method of fictitious transactions, false evaluations and other "scratching orders and speculation" behaviors.
Nowadays, the means and routines of "bringing goods" and "rhythm" through Internet celebrities and well-known bloggers are even more diverse. The so-called number of fans, views, and likes can all be "swiped".
Some sellers induce consumers to consume impulsively and irrationally by creating "false prosperity" in live broadcast rooms.
Lai Mousha in Changshu City, Jiangsu Province used the "Shui Army" in the live broadcast room to "swipe orders and speculate letters."
Since December 2020, the parties have cooperated with Xiongzhida Apparel Firm, Changfu Street, Changshu City, to do live video marketing (live sales of clothing) on the Douyin platform for the clothing sold in the store.
On January 19, 2021, when the parties involved in a live broadcast event, they hired a "sailant" who specializes in gaining popularity during the live broadcast, and entered the live broadcast room to brush fake traffic, increase the number of online people displayed during the live broadcast, and create a false high popularity in the live broadcast room. Atmosphere, deceive and mislead the relevant public.
The party’s behavior violated Article 8 Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. According to Article 20 Paragraph 1, the party was ordered to stop the illegal act and imposed a fine of 23,000 yuan.
"Sell A and send B" through false transactions
In recent years, in order to evade supervision and law enforcement, some unscrupulous operators have pursued unlimited traffic and false positive reviews. They have "upgraded the packaging" of the "scramble letter" model, which is different from the usual "self-swiping" or hiring "swiping hands". The single mode is to send small gifts and gifts instead of placing an order, forming a "sale A and B" transaction mode. On the surface, it is close to normal shopping behavior, which is very confusing and concealed.
However, no matter how the illegal means are put on the cloak of "legal", its essence still constitutes an illegal act of false transactions, and it will not escape the "hot eyes" of the law after all.
Anhui Huangshan Yunman Electronic Commerce Co., Ltd. used old customers to "make A and send B" and "swipe orders and speculate letters."
The parties used Taobao Wangwang to contact the consumers who had placed the order, saying that they can give small gifts to participate in the store activities according to the process.
The specific process is: consumers search for a certain product keyword in the store, place an order, and make payment; what the party sends is not the ordered product, but some small gifts; after the logistics arrives, the consumer is required to confirm the order and give a good comment. Money and commissions are returned to consumers.
The parties "take A and send B" by presenting small gifts to change the actual sales status of the goods and deceive and mislead the relevant public.
From November 2, 2020 to December 23, 2020, the parties have made a total of 372 orders.
The party’s behavior violated the provisions of Article 8 Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. According to Article 20 Paragraph 1, the party was ordered to stop the illegal act and imposed a fine of 150,000 yuan.
Hire a professional team, "swipe hands" to help "swipe orders and speculate letters"
In order to increase transaction volume and praise, merchants initially organized internal employees, relatives and friends to check orders, and evolved into organizing, hiring professional teams dedicated to this business, and "swiping hands" to complete the ordering process.
This type of team has clear organization, clear division of labor, and professional technology and equipment "blessing", making "swiping orders and speculating letters" increasingly professional and large-scale, with huge illegal profits, and has formed a network black and gray industry.
"Swiping orders and speculating letters" not only destroys the good market order and fair competition environment, but also seriously affects consumers' trust in the market and damages consumers' confidence in consumption.
With regard to large-scale and gang-based acts of “swiping orders and speculating letters”, while increasing administrative penalties, it is also necessary to intensify the linking of executions. If a crime is constituted, it shall be transferred to the judicial department for criminal responsibility according to law.
Suzhou Gushanke Trading Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu Province hired a group to use the old customers to "swipe orders and speculate letters."
The party opened an online store "Xidekai Flagship Store" on Tmall, which is mainly engaged in the sale of various sports and leisure footwear.
From October 30, 2020 to December 7, 2020, in order to increase the number of visitors to the company's online store and the sales of shoes in the online store, the parties used two methods to scan orders, fictitious transaction records and transaction volume.
One way is to hire a brush group to help brush the orders, each commission is 8 yuan, a total of 926 orders are brushed, and the commission is 7408 yuan.
Another way is to contact the old customers to check the order. For each order, a pair of shoes with broken code within RMB 10 will be given away. A total of 127 orders will be traded and 127 pairs of shoes will be given out.
The party’s behavior violated Article 8 Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. According to Article 20 Paragraph 1, the party was ordered to stop the illegal act and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan.
Swipe the order through "Send empty package"
At present, under the severe crackdown on order-swiping behavior by the regulatory authorities, the methods and characteristics of online order-swiping are also constantly updated.
Brushing orders by "sending empty packages" is a new method of ordering in recent years, that is, "logistics brushing orders".
Some criminals control multiple websites that sell empty express parcels and sell a large number of express tracking numbers.
These courier tracking numbers are either idling through the express logistics platform, or "sending empty packages" through offline logistics channels to provide false logistics information to illegal businesses.
"Send an empty package" to "swipe orders and speculate letters". With the synchronization of "swiping hands" and logistics, deliver empty packages or put small gifts in empty packages, and complete transactions through "logistics" fraud The whole process is highly concealed, and this is also the illegal behavior that the regulatory authorities will focus on in the next stage.
Nanjing Shuangshengrui Trading Co., Ltd. in Jiangsu Province mailed an empty parcel to "swipe the letter".
The parties began to implement fictitious trading activities on Taobao and JD platforms in December 2020, and selected specific commodities to formulate a plan for repurchase orders.
By analyzing the search habits of customers, formulating matching search terms, arranging operations personnel to place orders with "hands" according to the established order plan, simulating real customers to browse, consult, and place orders.
The parties concerned send empty envelopes or parcels to "Swipe Hand" according to the mark of the order transaction. After "Swipe Hand" confirms the receipt, the product will be given full credit.
The party’s behavior violated the provisions of Article 8 Paragraph 1 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law. According to Article 20 Paragraph 1, the party was ordered to stop the illegal act and a fine of 200,000 yuan was imposed.
Text/Reporter Lin Lishuang
Coordinator/Photo courtesy of Yu Meiying/Visual China