New tips for “killing” health care products:
The square dance team leads the elderly to "buy, buy, buy" on their journey
Experts remind: Don’t trust “free travel” if you encounter someone “acquainted with you” and talk to your children more
Mr. Zhou’s mother, Aunt Rong, has been living alone since his wife passed away more than ten years ago. Mr. Zhou is usually busy with work and only comes home once every two months. Every time he calls to greet his mother, his mother only says, “ Good, good”. But recently, when Mr. Zhou visited his mother's house, he found that the utility room of his mother's house was filled with various health products. He "searched" at home and found that not only the utility room, but also under his mother's bed were There are piles of various health products, including goat milk powder, bone strengthening powder, muscle and bone strengthening powder, Mingmu oral liquid, Ganoderma spore powder, etc. His mother told him that these health products were purchased during the “free travel” event organized by her community’s square dance team over the past year or so.
In this regard, community anti-fraud police and anti-fraud volunteers told reporters that in recent years, there has been an "escalation" trend in health care product fraud targeting the elderly. Some health care product sellers are targeting square dance "lead aunts" groups and guiding them to organize groups in the community. "Free travel" for the elderly, thereby inducing the elderly to "buy, buy, buy". "Elderly people must be highly vigilant about this 'killing' model of health care products," volunteers reminded.
Community square dance team takes the lead in “free tourism”
An elderly person "generously" purchased more than 80,000 yuan of health care products
"My mother bought so many health care products that I couldn't finish them in two years." Mr. Zhou first asked his mother about the origin of these health care products, and she said they were given to her by participating in a free trip organized by the community's square dance team. "You're participating in a free tour and you're getting so many health care products?" Mr. Zhou saw his mother hesitating in her words and speculated that there must be something hidden. After he repeatedly inquired, his mother told the truth - she had participated in several free tours organized by the community's square dance team. She bought these health products at the persuasion of a shopping guide during the trip, although the cost ranged from several thousand yuan each time. The cost can be tens of thousands of yuan, but I am happy because the price of these health care products is much cheaper than similar products on the market, so I have actually "made a profit". Mr. Zhou looked through his mother's bank card consumption records and found that she spent more than 80,000 yuan on various health products in one year.
What surprised Mr. Zhou even more was that his mother seemed to have been brainwashed by the "warmth strategy" of the health product seller. When Mr. Zhou asked the salesperson to return the money, his mother said angrily: "This is my own money. Don't I have the right to decide how to spend it? I bought these health care products voluntarily, and they are very good to me. I am satisfied with their service.”
Why did my mother, who rarely traveled before retirement, become obsessed with traveling after retirement? Mr. Zhou told reporters that his mother began to travel frequently with the elderly in the community two years ago, and it was several members of the community's square dance team who took the lead in organizing the travel. Aunt Rong said that there are more than 50 people who regularly dance square dance in the community, and there are more than 20 people who regularly participate in activities. There are four square dance teams alone. Every time Mr. Zhou asked his mother who she was traveling with, her mother would tell her that she was with the sisters from the community’s square dance team. "At first, I thought that those were acquaintances she often danced with. We would take care of each other when traveling together, so I felt relieved. Moreover, my mother was willing to travel around after retirement, and we as children also encouraged it. But no I thought of how much health care products she bought back every time she went on a trip." Mr. Zhou said that his mother was frugal before retiring and never expected that she would be so "generous" in purchasing health care products.
Aunt Rong told Mr. Zhou that all the tours she participated in over the past year were free. "It's just that some shopping spots will be arranged during the tour, but it is voluntary to buy goods. However, the tour guide will recommend some high-end health care products." Aunt Rong said that she did not plan to buy these health care products at first, but when she saw the same The other sisters in the group all bought it, and I felt a little embarrassed if I didn’t. "I always felt a little bit guilty about enjoying other people's free travel every time, so I bought thousands of yuan in health care products every time."
Community anti-fraud police:
New routine of health care product fraud targets “leading aunts”
Wu Zhigang, a retired policeman who has long been engaged in community anti-fraud work, is very familiar with what happened to Mr. Zhou’s mother. Before his retirement, Wu Zhigang was the third-level senior police sergeant of Xinghua Police Station in Tianhe District. He said that health product fraud is one of the important forms of fraud targeting the elderly, and now this type of fraud has also been "upgraded." "As in the past, when sellers go directly to the elderly and brag about how powerful the health products are, it will arouse the vigilance of the elderly. The intention is too obvious, and many community security guards will prohibit health product companies from entering the community for sales. So now some health product companies The form of sales promotion has been upgraded - they will first find the aunts in the community who often dance square dances together or the 'leaders' in the square dance crowd to serve as their 'agents'."
Wu Zhigang said that when it comes to "square dancing aunts", people often think that this is a relatively loosely organized group, but in fact it is a large social circle, and the "leaders" of the square dancing teams in each community often have strong ties. Appeal. "Some health care product sellers will take the initiative to find these team leaders to talk about family issues, and then express their hope to use them to mobilize the square dancing mothers in the community to participate in the 'free tour.' Because the opinions of the 'team leaders' are often more weighty, more and more sellers We have discovered this, and now we will focus on conquering the 'leading aunt' in the square dance team."
According to Wu Zhigang's observation, in the square dance phalanx, there will be a few "leaders" who will lead everyone to dance together or organize everyone to do activities together, and not everyone is qualified for this position. First of all, the leader must have a certain foundation in dance and be able to stand out from the crowd; the leader must have a good relationship with the team members and can call on everyone to do things other than dancing. "For example, if the leader says something is useful, many people will trust her. For example, when traveling, if the leader says she will organize a trip, since the group is full of acquaintances, most people will do it as long as they have time. I won't refuse. And once the aunts participate in this kind of 'free tour', opportunities will come for health care product sellers."
The secret behind “free travel”
Health product salesmen make good use of "warmth offensive"
Citizen Aunt Mei opened a health care product store near her community. She usually goes there to check her blood pressure when she has nothing to do. Aunt Cui, who often dances square dances with Aunt Mei, also goes to this store for physical therapy. During a dance, Aunt Cui Tell Aunt Mei that this store said that you only need to pay 12,000 yuan to get a mattress worth 10,000 yuan, cosmetics worth 5,000 yuan, and 3 boxes of supplements. What is even more attractive is that you can travel for free; later, Aunt Cui said I told other square dancing sisters that an organization organized a free trip for everyone, and Aunt Mei also signed up.
It turned out that it was this health product store that organized the trip. On the first day of the trip, the organizer took everyone to visit two scenic spots and then took them to visit the health care product production site; on the second day, the organizer took everyone to a five-star hotel and said it was holding a "thank you meeting." , but in fact, "experts" are invited to conduct physical examinations on the elderly. Aunt Mei listened to "experts" and the elderly discussing the benefits of health care products, and impulsively bought more than 10,000 yuan of health care products. Since that trip, salespeople from the health care product company often came to deliver various daily necessities to Aunt Mei.
Wu Zhigang introduced that the common routines of this kind of "free travel" are: free travel, carrying goods on the way, warm-hearted offensive, and key points. "For example, many health care product sellers are very familiar with travel agencies. Even if they organize 20 elderly people to go out for free for two days, the cost is only 10,000 yuan, but the potential income brought by this is far more than 10,000 yuan. ." He said that usually aunts travel to some unpopular attractions that are not expensive, and since the trip is free, even if they pass by shopping spots on the way, they generally won't complain. The most important thing is the recommendation of health products later. "Old people generally pay more attention to health care, and salespeople have seized on this mentality to sell health products to them."
Wu Zhigang said that health care product companies usually send young male salesmen to sell health care products to aunties. When they find that an elderly person is interested in a certain health care product, the salesperson will "focus on key research" on these elderly people. In order to complete the sales task, the salesperson will also use various rhetoric: for example, the health products are "free" at the beginning, and the salesperson will often visit the elderly at home, but the later the time, the higher the price of the health products recommended to the elderly. , for the elderly with purchasing power, salesmen will even adopt "hunger marketing". "For example, when an elderly person asks to buy more boxes, the salesperson will say, 'Thousands of people want to buy our products every day, you have to wait in line.' This will make the elderly more eager to buy health care products, and they may even ask for a higher price. , but there was no queue at all.”
"Many elderly people participated in the free tours organized by the square dance team in the community. They bought some health care products during the trip and were targeted by the sellers after they came back." Wu Zhigang said that he spends tens of thousands of yuan on health care products in this way every year. There are many elderly people, and he often receives requests for help from their children. However, it is not easy for the elderly to purchase health care products and protect their rights in this way. On the one hand, although these types of health care products do not have excessive health care functions, they are often ordinary vitamin tablets or protein powders. It is not harmful to the body when the elderly buy them home and eat them. On the other hand, when the elderly buy these health care products, they are It is voluntary, and because the salesperson will come to the elderly person's home regularly to greet him or her, which makes the elderly person feel very warm. Many times, when the children want to get back the money they spent on health care products, the elderly person does not agree.
"Bringing goods to acquaintances" may also be "killing acquaintances"
The elderly should consume rationally and children should pay more attention to their parents.
Wu Zhigang said that in recent years, health product sales scams targeting the elderly have continued to be high. Some salespeople will promote "health products" and "special health products" to the elderly under the guise of free eggs and fruits, exaggerate the efficacy of the products to seduce the elderly, and use the "warmth card" to visit the elderly regularly and induce them to buy cents. Useless "health products". "Especially when some companies sell to the elderly through the 'acquaintances bring goods' model, the elderly's awareness of prevention will drop a lot."
Li Guiquan, president of the Huangpu District Safety Promotion Association, has also been conducting anti-fraud work against the elderly in recent years. He said that the elderly are easy to become victims due to reasons such as low vigilance, less information about daily life, and their children are not around. He was also deeply touched by the phenomenon of health care product fraud introduced by Wu Zhigang. "It's easy for 'acquaintances' to be killed by what they consider to be 'acquaintances'. Even free travel organized by acquaintances often hides 'tenderness traps'."
Wu Zhigang said that many health care product sellers now use the gimmick of "free tours" to attract the elderly to join the group, and then arrange various shopping sessions during the tour to sell health care products to the elderly at high prices. He reminded uncles and aunts to be vigilant when encountering "free travel" organized by "dance partners" or "card friends". On the one hand, they should not be greedy for petty advantages and discuss with their children more to prevent being "killed" by people with ulterior motives. "; On the other hand, we must maintain a scientific mentality and consume rationally. When purchasing health care products, we should understand their actual effects. If necessary, we should keep the receipts for the goods to facilitate rights protection. In addition, children should also pay more attention to their parents. "Children should also reflect on this. If we care enough about the elderly, will they still be fooled by 'exorbitantly priced health products'?" Wu Zhigang said.
Guangzhou Daily omni-media reporter Xiao Huanhuan intern Huang Mingyu