Liu Qiangdong and Lei Jun are both giving gifts? Many Shanghainese have already received free gifts? The Truth Comes as a Gift | Free | Shanghai
"I haven't made any online purchases before, how could a package be delivered to my door? Did a neighbor deliver the wrong one?" Recently, Mr. Lu, who lives in a residential area in Jing'an District, Shanghai, received a tightly packed package. He carefully checked the waybill and found that it was indeed his own address, but the recipient was not himself. He took a photo of the package and sent it to the building group to inquire, but was informed that a neighbor had also received the same package, some with incorrect addresses and names, and some with matching addresses and names.
After unsuccessful inquiries, Uncle Lu opened the package and found a mug with a QR code, which read "Scan to give back to the customer.". At this point, a homeowner in the building group reminded: This is a scam, do not scan.
Mr. Lu informed the Shanghai debunking platform about the incident and hoped to understand what was going on. A Shanghai debunking platform investigation has found that many police officers have recently issued reminders that the free gifts given to people's homes and on social media are not trustworthy. At the end of the day, these types of gifts are all bait for brushing traps, but compared to previous traps, "gift traps" are more covert, and even new gimmicks such as "Liu Qiangdong sending air fryers" and "Lei Jun sending small electric fans" have emerged.
Three types of scams, all pointing to "brushing orders"
The investigation found that there are three main forms of scams that have been prevalent recently——
The first type is free gift delivery, which lures recipients to scan codes and join groups, accepting "brushing tasks".
According to feedback from citizens, the current "gifts" include mugs, glass cups, plastic cups, phone holders, etc., which are not expensive and all come with QR codes, indicating that scanning the code can join the "welfare group".
The second type is to impersonate merchant customers, give free gifts to consumers, and then encourage consumers to join the "welfare group".
The police in a certain area disclosed a case: Ms. Zhang, the victim, received a phone call claiming to be a customer service representative of an e-commerce platform, stating that in order to give back high-quality customers, she will give away a free pillow. Ms. Zhang often makes online purchases, thinking it's a benefit for the merchant, so she added the other party's WeChat and filled in the receiving information as required. A few days later, she did receive a pillow, which made Ms. Zhang firmly believe in the "benefits" mentioned by customer service.
After confirming that Ms. Zhang received the gift, "customer service" pulled her into a "benefit group", stating that by liking or giving positive feedback to the designated merchant on a certain e-commerce platform, she can receive the corresponding red envelope. Ms. Zhang, who had already received the pillow, felt that it could make money easily. She immediately completed the first task as required and sent a screenshot to the group, and indeed received the prize money. Afterwards, "customer service" claimed that if Ms. Zhang downloaded an app to complete "advanced tasks", she would receive more rewards. Ms. Zhang downloaded the app according to the other party's request and recharged "virtual shopping funds" and "withdrawal deposits", but found that the reward amount could no longer be withdrawn, and ultimately chose to call the police. At this point, she had already been scammed 110000 yuan.
The third type is to encourage friends to participate in gift giving activities such as "Liu Qiangdong delivering air fryers" and "Lei Jun delivering small electric fans" through social media platforms such as WeChat Moments. The publisher also claimed to have received relevant gifts and accompanied them with a "gift" delivery note. The ultimate goal is also to attract people into the group.
According to the investigation results released by the police, these netizens who posted "gifts received" are no different from the other victims of "free gifts". They do not know where the gifts come from, and many people have not even obtained air fryers, small e-commerce, etc. The reason why they post on their social media is that the so-called "customer service" means that only by posting on their social media can they receive "rewards" and "feedback", and "gifts" or delivery photos are also provided by the "customer service". If someone is interested in these meaningless gifts, they are likely to be pulled into the brushing group.
Four steps, beware of losing out on small things
The Shanghai debunking platform also found that although the terms "prize", "reward", and "gift" differ, the trap of brushing orders is similar, usually with four steps:
The first step is for fraudsters to play the role of group leaders and post tasks within the group, claiming that after group members complete tasks such as brushing orders, liking and commenting, and brushing fans, they can take screenshots and send them to the group to receive red envelopes. Victims usually receive this first "brushing feedback red envelope".
The second step is for the group leader to arrange "support" and spread screenshots of high commissions within the group, indicating "more orders to grab and more rebates", "more tasks completed, higher bonuses", "recharge and brush orders, more feedback", etc., to lure potential victims to participate in "advanced tasks".
The third step is that when the potential victim decides to accept the "advanced task", the group leader will request the potential victim to download a specific app, indicating that the "advanced task" must be operated through a dedicated app. The app will request personal information of potential victims and state that the process of advanced tasks includes "recharging funds, virtual ordering, false receipt, and returning funds.". During this process, customer service will constantly advocate that "the greater the investment, the greater the return.".
The fourth step is for "customer service" to use various excuses such as "incomplete task", "abnormal operation", "account frozen", "payment of withdrawal deposit", etc. to explain why the victim is unable to withdraw, and lure the victim to continue increasing investment until the victim discovers that they have been deceived.
In response to the above scams, the police in many places reminded that online bill-brushing is a common means of online fraud. Fraudsters usually use small gifts, small rewards, etc. to make victims relax their vigilance, and then begin to use "high input, high output" bill-brushing tasks to carry out fraud. When the victim completes the transfer, the fraudsters refuse to return the money and rebate for various reasons. Therefore, the public must not be deceived by free gifts, rewards, etc., because of small losses.
Do not sign for or accept unpurchased express packages
During the investigation, the Shanghai debunking platform also found that some citizens had paid for the storage cost of express delivery cabinets for those low-quality and low-priced gifts.
Originally, some courier companies did not deliver the "gifts" to their doorstep or contact the recipient, but instead directly placed the "gifts" in the delivery cabinet. Some citizens only realize they have express delivery after receiving "pick-up reminders" or "overdue payment reminders" from the express delivery platform. But after paying the storage fee, it was discovered that the package was not ordered by oneself and there was a hidden scam.
From the investigation, it is difficult for both couriers and citizens to determine whether the package is a normal delivery or a bait for scammers based on its appearance. However, the non-standard operation of couriers putting the package into the delivery cabinet without contacting the recipient has led to the recipient paying for the storage fee. In this regard, the recipient can file a complaint and claim compensation with the courier company, and it is also recommended that the courier company strengthen its management to prevent non-standard delivery behavior.
On the other hand, the public should pay more attention to "express deliveries from unknown sources" and compare their consumption records, including the logistics tracking number and progress in the merchant's shipping records, to directly reject express deliveries from unknown sources.
