“薅羊毛” investigation: downloading informal software, entering invitation code, being able to log in but not log out… do you still dare to try?

Not long ago, a piece of news that "Little Swan was fleeced of 70 million overnight by the "wool party" became a hot search. During an online promotion, a Little Swan dealer made a mistake in entering a number, resulting in the product price being much lower than usual, and the "wool party" placed crazy orders.

The local market supervision department has already started an investigation into the incident, but as of press time, no public investigation results have been released. However, many onlookers are curious: Why can a small, unknown dealer who input the wrong price attract so many orders in such a short period of time?

The reason is simple - there are special "wool-grabbing" groups on social platforms, which monitor discounts, promotional information and even marketing errors from different channels and share ways to "grab the bargain" in a timely manner. Some of the people who placed orders for Little Swan are members of the "wool-grabbing" group.

So, can the "cash-back party" group really save money? There are many posts on social platforms inviting people to join the "cash-back party", and some people post "strategies" with themes such as "making money without doing anything", "eating a free meal", and "earning 10,000 yuan a day". Are they true?

In most people's impression, "薅羊毛" means taking advantage of the promotion rules of different platforms and merchants to obtain goods and services with as little money as possible. A survey by Jiefang Daily and Shangguan News found that this is just one type of "薅羊毛". At present, there are at least three different types of "薅羊毛".

Among them, taking advantage of platform promotion rules to make profits is only in the initial stage and has different forms of expression.

At present, most platforms have set up various preferential rules or games in order to increase the number of users, opening rates, user usage time and other data of apps and mini-programs.

For example, "growing vegetables", "growing fruits", "raising fish", etc., belong to the check-in category. Consumers browse the corresponding pages every day and complete the corresponding actions. After a certain period of time, they can get the products sent by the platform for free.

For example, "Help", "Cut a Knife", "Invite Friends", etc., belong to the sharing category. Not only do consumers need to complete the task, but they are also required to share the activity with their relatives and friends to help the platform expand its influence. Only after completing a large number of promotions can consumers receive the platform's gifted goods or even cash rewards.

In addition, some platforms also offer discounts for new users or when helping new merchants to promote their products. Consumers who are "new to the platform" or "new to the brand" have the opportunity to receive certain discounts, but often only once.

The second largest category of "薅羊毛" comes from specialized marketing companies. Although these companies claim to help consumers "薅羊毛", they are actually helping merchants to promote. Specific ways to "薅羊毛" include chat groups, mini-programs, apps, etc.; the methods of "薅" also vary.

In the "薅薅羊毛" chat group, the group owner will post discount information about specific merchants or products, encouraging consumers to place orders. Some even say that they can "return cash back for positive reviews", that is, after consumers give positive reviews to designated products, the order amount can be refunded, including free orders.

Some of the preferential information comes from the group owner and the cooperative merchants of his marketing company, and some is monitored by the company, such as the incorrect pricing of Little Swan dealers.

In the "薅羊毛" mini-programs and apps, in addition to "cashback for positive reviews" and other methods, there are also some that require consumers to watch the ads of designated merchants or make purchases before they can "薅羊毛". After trying it, the reporter found that it was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it felt like the gain was not worth the loss.

For example, a "薅羊毛" App claims that you can get "gold coins" after playing games, and when the "gold coins" accumulate to a certain amount, you can withdraw cash. In fact, in addition to accumulating "gold coins", users also have to improve their account "energy level"; otherwise, for the same 5,000 "gold coins", "low-level" users can only cash out 0.1 yuan, while "high-level" users can cash out 10 yuan.

So, how do you improve your "energy level"? There are three ways: one is to watch the ads that pop up on the page while playing games, instead of closing them directly; the second is to buy the products in the ads, but unfortunately the quality and price of the related products are not very attractive; the third is to recharge to play games.

However, the App is poorly made, and the advertisements, products, and games involved are of mediocre quality, which makes the reporter feel that it is not worth it for the limited "wool".

Finally, there is the upgraded version of "薅羊毛" (getting free money) - downloading a special app, joining a group or team, and acting as a "partner" to promote the corresponding app and "薅羊毛" (getting free money). The relevant app claims that "partners" can not only buy goods at preferential prices, but also have "preferential treatment" when paying electricity bills and other public utility fees. Of course, these "preferential treatment" does not come from public utilities, but depends on the "level" of the user.

Is it "fleecing the sheep", or is it fake orders or pyramid selling?

The reporter’s investigation found that some “薅羊毛” groups, mini-programs and apps are likely to be involved in illegal activities.

"I have studied some of the '薅薅羊毛' platforms, and some of them are suspected of false orders, which is illegal." Chen Lin, an operator of an e-commerce platform, tested a recently popular "薅薅羊毛" app "SQ.com" with reporters.

The homepage of SQ.com lists almost all mainstream e-commerce and food delivery platforms, including Chen Lin's company. The page shows that after "registering" through SQ.com, consumers can get "benefits" such as lower prices than mainstream platforms or even free meals. But Chen Lin said that his company has no cooperative relationship with SQ.com.

The "Newbie Guide" on SQ.com introduces the specific method of "getting the free stuff": consumers can select the merchants they want to order from the SQ.com event page and "register". After successfully "registering", they must go to the merchant's mainstream e-commerce or food delivery platform to place an order within 30 minutes. The ordering method is the same as normal consumption, but after the consumption is completed, the merchant must be praised and a screenshot must be sent back to SQ.com to receive cash back.

"Isn't this just fake orders? Since the consumption data is real and the cash back behavior takes place outside the transaction platform, it is difficult for the platform to identify," said Chen Lin.

Comparing the product prices of the same merchant on SQ.com and mainstream e-commerce and food delivery platforms, we can find that the prices of big brands are basically the same, and the activity pages of SQ.com are mainly small brands and new stores. Based on this, we can speculate that this is the essence of SQ.com's operation: inducing consumers to give good reviews in the name of "taking advantage of the customer" and helping related merchants increase their transaction volume and good reviews.

"Consumers should not think they are getting a bargain. The 'good reviews' of relevant merchants are fake, so there is a lot of uncertainty about the quality of goods and catering, etc." Chen Lin reminded.

Tang Jing, a technical engineer at an e-commerce platform, said that "fleecing" behaviors similar to those provided by SQ.com are actually the focus of the platform's monitoring and crackdown. "It's just that the development cost of such apps and mini-programs is very low, and they are often eliminated in batches and quickly make a comeback. Consumers must keep their eyes open and not participate, so as to avoid becoming accomplices of lawbreakers." According to the "Interim Provisions on Anti-Unfair Competition on the Internet" which came into effect on September 1 this year, "brushing orders" and "cash back for positive reviews" have constituted violations of the law, and related behaviors will be dealt with in accordance with the law.

As for the "wool-pulling" companies that encourage consumers to become "partners" or "operators", they are suspected of engaging in pyramid schemes.

It is common to call on consumers to become "partners" in many "薅羊毛" apps

For example, TM claims that it can provide users with "98% off for phone bills", "94% off for electricity bills", "free travel", "free meals" and other "wool-pulling" services, but the prerequisite is that consumers first spend 39 yuan to become a "member" of the company, and then become a "partner" or "operator" of the company by purchasing or participating in the operation.

TM's operating system is divided into different levels, including VIP, operator, branch, city partner, and provincial partner. Among them, the purchase qualification of "city partner" is 580 yuan/person, and that of provincial partner is 1980 yuan/person; the task of the first-phase "operator" is to directly promote 10 members and establish 50 member teams, and the second-phase "operator" must directly promote 20 members and establish 100 member teams...

The company also has "new customer acquisition" rewards, which means that after a VIP invites a friend, "if he registers and signs in once, you will immediately receive 0.3 yuan in your account; if he completes his first order, you will immediately receive 1 yuan in your account; if he uses all platforms and channels, you will get a commission; if they develop the market, you will get a commission; operators and branches are passive channel income..."

The Regulations on Prohibition of Pyramid Selling clearly states: "Pyramid selling refers to the act of an organizer or operator recruiting personnel and seeking illegal profits by calculating and paying remuneration to the recruited personnel based on the number of personnel directly or indirectly recruited by the recruited personnel or their sales performance, or requiring the recruited personnel to pay a certain fee as a condition for obtaining membership, thereby disrupting the economic order and affecting social stability." Comparing the legal provisions with TM's upgrade path, do you still dare to try it?

Over the past half month, the reporter has tried different "薅羊毛" apps and mini-programs as a consumer. It is not an exaggeration to describe the experience as "walking on thin ice" - almost every step felt like stepping into a trap.

For example, when downloading some "wool-pulling" apps, it was found that these apps were not from the regular application software market, but had to be downloaded according to the links provided by the "informant". This means that the reporter opened his mobile phone to unapproved software, which is quite risky.

For example, users need to provide user information, including WeChat ID, QQ ID, and mobile phone number, and if they want to "rebate after placing an order and receiving a favorable comment", they also need to provide payment account information. Is it really safe to provide this information to these apps and mini-programs that operate in the gray area?

After investigating a "薅羊毛" applet, the reporter tried to delete the account information, but found that there was no delete option on the entire page; as a second choice, he hoped to log out of the account, but still couldn't do it. Finally, by checking the "User Notice", he found that in order to delete the account, he must contact the development team via email. However, can it really be deleted after contacting? Do I need to provide more personal information during the contact process?

In addition, some "薅羊毛" apps not only ask for information such as mobile phone numbers when users register, but also require an "invitation number". The "invitation number" comes from some group owners or "strategists" who advocate "薅羊毛". So, when the user enters the corresponding number, does he become the offline of the group owner or "strategist" writer?

Many "wool-pulling" software require an "invitation code" when downloading

In addition, some "薅羊毛" seems to be a good deal, but upon closer inspection, it can be found that they are taking advantage of information asymmetry to deceive consumers.

There are many well-known chain restaurant brands on a certain "薅羊毛" platform, and the prices of goods are much cheaper than those of the brand's own channels. For example, a set meal of a certain restaurant brand originally priced at 16 yuan is priced at 13 yuan on the "薅羊毛" platform. However, the brand has a membership system, and the membership price of the 16 yuan set meal is 9.6 yuan. The reporter tried to place an order on the "薅羊毛" platform and found that the page jumped to the brand's own channel, but it became a third-party entrusted order.

Based on this speculation, it is very likely that the "薅羊毛" platform has the brand's membership and then helps consumers place orders. Consumers seem to get discounts, but the "薅羊毛" platform can earn a difference of 3.4 yuan for each order.

In fact, the cost of brand membership is not high. Consumers can get it for 19 yuan. In addition, brand membership benefits include a 40% discount on package meals, as well as other discounts such as free gift certificates.

It can be seen that although "薅羊毛" seems to be a good deal, it actually has its own problems.

Among them, the promotional activities launched by regular e-commerce platforms and merchants are normal marketing activities. However, due to cost considerations, the discount is limited and consumers have to spend a lot of time and energy. In this regard, consumers can choose whether to participate according to their personal circumstances.

Consumers must be vigilant about third-party "wool-pulling" groups, websites, mini-programs, apps, etc. that promote "low cost, high return". Because through these channels, it is very likely that you will not be able to get any wool, but will hand over your personal information, and even become an accomplice of criminals, losing more than you gain.