Xinhua News Agency, Nanning, February 19th,
title: Demystifying the "Tarot Card Divination" of Internet celebrities
Xinhua News Agency "Xinhua Viewpoint" reporters Huang Haoming and Chen Yifan
Feeling confused, "Tarot Divination" can "foresee the future"; if luck is not good, "Flowers and Flowers" can "turn around"...
A recent investigation by a reporter from "Xinhua Viewpoint" found that "Tarot Divination" is very popular on popular social media platforms.
Some businesses use gimmicks such as changing luck, eliminating disasters and avoiding disasters, and alleviating worries. They charge tens of thousands of yuan and make huge profits by engaging in "foreign superstitions."
"Tarot Card Divination" popular network with various online and offline interactions
On some social media platforms, "Tarot Divination" and "Transfer Ceremony" are very popular among netizens.
On the Weibo platform, the number of readings and discussions on the topic of "Tarot Divination" exceeded 2.7 billion and 3.9 million, respectively; a search for "Tarot Divination" on Baidu resulted in more than 50 million relevant results.
On the WeChat public platform, there are many public accounts with the names of "Tarot" and "Divination".
The reporter randomly added a WeChat account for "Tarot Divination".
According to the other party, an exclusive card array can be designed according to personal needs, and a single divination costs 298 yuan; a ceremony can also be done according to customer needs to change the fortune, once a day, a single charge is 199 yuan, the greater the difficulty, the longer the duration.
He kept urging reporters to pay quickly: "Today there are many divination guests and the quota is limited. If the quota is full, it will be scheduled later."
Some businesses have also opened physical stores to interact online and offline.
Nearly 10 "Destiny Tarot" stores have opened in Nanning, Guangxi.
A material called "Code of Destiny Tarot Franchise Stores" clearly lists the business model of such stores: the franchise fee for newly opened stores is 68,000 yuan, and those who recommend franchising can get a commission of 18,000 yuan; the main store and franchise The store conducts profit sharing. According to the different items sold and the service items provided, the division between the main store and the franchised store ranges from 6:4 to 7:3; the merchandise types and services of the franchised stores are provided by the main store, and the franchised stores do Good customer maintenance.
At the end of December 2020, the Nanning Municipal Market Supervision Bureau received reports from the public that a "Fate Tarot" store in Qingyun Street, Xingning District, was suspected of engaging in superstition activities and publishing superstition advertisements.
Subsequently, the Nanning Municipal Market Supervision Bureau and the public security department conducted a forensic investigation on the store, and found that the store was suspected of violating the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law, and the market supervision department initiated an investigation.
Huang Yongxin, a staff member of the Fair Trade Inspection Bureau of the Nanning Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, said that the shop was suspected of publishing superstitious advertisements and violating relevant regulations of the Advertising Law.
According to the Advertising Law, the market supervision department can impose a fine of 200,000 yuan up to 1 million yuan on this store. If the circumstances are serious, the business license can be revoked.
"For this type of behavior that promotes superstitious advertisements, the market supervision department can impose penalties in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law; if it involves the use of superstition activities to defraud money and goods, it is recommended that the victim report the case to the local public security agency." Huang Yongxin said.
Organizers generally have low cultural qualities, and how much money to sell legal goods depends on "flicker"
The reporter's investigation found that this kind of superstitious business activities in "foreign clothes" have low barriers to employment and low quality of personnel. Many businesses take advantage of some people's superstitious psychology, fancy marketing for profiteering, and adopt various methods to evade supervision.
The reporter's investigation found that many so-called "masters" and "masters" who are engaged in "tarot divination" claim to be foreigners and have rich experience, but in fact their identities and experiences cannot be studied at all.
The staff of the market supervision department said that such shops have low entry barriers, and employees do not need to provide relevant qualification certificates and professional backgrounds to open shops. The cultural quality is generally low, and they mainly attract customers through "weird power and chaotic" propaganda.
"In our investigation, we found that a major organizer only had a junior high school education, and had neither professional background nor overseas work experience. He switched from self-employed to do this when he saw that the business could make money." A law enforcement official said.
These organizers relied on fancy marketing to make huge profits.
A WeChat account claiming to provide consulting services such as "transportation, spiritual control, divination", etc., held a so-called "Peach Blossom Flower" memorial service of 16,800 yuan, a group of "lotus lanterns" 1,592 yuan, and a face-covering amulet The price is 3800 yuan.
Sellers claim that these projects have the effects of changing fate, eliminating disasters and avoiding disasters. The projects on WeChat are only a small part. Corresponding projects can be provided according to the specific needs of customers. The more expensive the project, the better the effect.
The insider said that the cost of these items is extremely low. Some amulets that sell for more than 10,000 yuan are actually gilded and cost a few hundred yuan at most. How much they sell depends on the salesperson's personal "fudge" ability.
The sales bill of the "Fate Tarot" shop on Qingyun Street that was investigated and punished showed that in just one and a half months, the shop had more than 130,000 yuan in sales.
Huang Yongxin said that the operators of these stores have a strong sense of evading supervision.
After the "Fate Tarot" shop on Qingyun Street removed the superstition advertisement, it continued to operate in the name of selling handicrafts. Although the market supervision department filed a case, it could not be ordered to cease operation immediately.
When other "Fate Tarot" stores learned that this store on Qingyun Street was filed for investigation, they removed the superstitious advertisements of their stores to avoid supervision.
The reporter visited this "Fate Tarot" shop on Qingyun Street in mid-January this year and found that the shop was still open.
There are Buddha stands and exhibition cabinets displaying amulets, incense candles, lamp lamps and other items in the store. Buddha statues and photos of some stars wearing amulets and other accessories are hung on the walls.
According to the clerk, in addition to selling these items, the store also provides services such as tarot card analysis, "washing flowers and coolness", and practice.
Strengthen the crackdown on superstition fraud and improve the public's ability to identify
Pan Yi, a researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that "tarot divination" and other superstitious activities are nothing more than superstitions in "foreign cloaks". No matter how they are refurbished, they are essentially using people's superstition psychology to collect money.
"The so-called change of fate is not supported by facts." Pan Yi said that some customers may feel that these items or items are indeed effective after purchasing, but this is only due to subjective strong psychological needs. Merchants use vague language to reinforce this falsehood. Causal relationship.
Experts such as Pan Yi believe that publicity should be increased to expose the deception of such superstitious activities and improve the public's ability to identify.
At the same time, relevant management departments should strengthen the proper resolution of the practical problems of disadvantaged groups, improve the psychological counseling mechanism, provide professional social services, and reduce the breeding ground for superstition.
Facing some young people’s enthusiasm for “inviting mascots” and “regulating fortune”, experts such as Sun Daqiang, a teacher at the Student Psychological Quality Education Center of Beijing Jiaotong University, said that in the Internet age, schools, media, and popular science organizations should use more short videos, games, New methods such as animation and animation promote scientific common sense.
At the same time, in response to the emotional needs and psychological problems of college students, colleges and universities should strengthen guidance to help young people establish a scientific worldview.
Huang Yu, a lawyer from Beijing Weiheng (Nanning) Law Firm, suggested that the relevant laws should further clarify and standardize the management and punishment measures for using the Internet to spread superstitious information for business activities, if the business operator is involved in pyramid schemes, fraud, formation of illegal organizations, etc. Illegal acts should be resolutely investigated and dealt with, and the operators shall be held accountable in accordance with the law.
On the other hand, online platforms should assume corresponding social responsibilities, strengthen the review and daily supervision of online accounts, and immediately close accounts, freeze accounts, and report the relevant situation to the supervisory authority for activities suspected of promoting superstition or fraudulent money. Be further investigated and dealt with to protect the interests of the people.