Is it a business opportunity or a scam?, The rise of investment self-service lottery machines! A company charges a rental fee of 20000 yuan in the name of a lottery in China | Company | lottery
"Young people falling in love with buying lottery tickets" has been a hot topic on social media recently. But Red Star Capital Bureau has noticed that some "investment advertisements" for self-service lottery machines have quietly emerged with the popularity. On social media platforms, comments can be seen everywhere saying "I invested in a self-service lottery machine and earn a profit of several hundred yuan every day.".
On June 13th, Red Star Capital Bureau contacted a "self-service lottery machine investment consultant" child under the name of investment consulting. According to her introduction, self-service lottery machine operation services can be provided. Investors only need to pay a rental fee of 20000 yuan to receive 3.5% of the lottery sales revenue as a dividend, without any effort, and can recover their profits in 8 months.
From these investment advertisements, investing in a self-service lottery machine seems to be a profitable business. But many lottery centers have clearly stated that they have not engaged in investment cooperation with any institutions or individuals.
In addition, some investors told the Red Star Capital Bureau that after investing in lottery machines through Huile Lottery Company, they can only see the income flow on the company's APP and cannot see photos of the lottery machines. After questioning the operational model of Huile Cai, I wanted to propose an operation, but faced the problem of difficult refunds.
"Invest 20000 yuan and get paid back in 8 months"
Multiple companies attract investment and charge fees under the name of the lottery center
Unlike the lottery type digital lottery favored by "veteran lottery players", most of the popular ones among young people are instant lottery tickets - commonly known as "scratch tickets". On Tiktok and Xiaohongshu, many netizens have released pictures and videos of "scratch and scrape", which seems to have become a trendy activity for young people.
The sales of scrapers have increased significantly. At the end of May, the Ministry of Finance released the lottery sales data for April 2023, with a sales volume of 8.936 billion yuan for open type lottery tickets, a year-on-year increase of 84.1%.
When the public's attention was drawn to the topics of "young people crowded lottery shops" and "record high lottery sales", Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that some "investment advertisements" for self-service lottery machines also quietly appeared on various social media platforms.
"I voted for a self-service lottery machine and earned hundreds of dollars every day" "I joined one, and it costs more than 2000 yuan a month" "I voted for this and collected money at home every day". Recently, similar comments always appear in the pictures and videos of the self-service lottery machine on Little Red Book and Tiktok.
Photo from Little Red Book
On June 13th, Red Star Capital Bureau contacted a "self-service lottery machine investment consultant" child under the name of investment consulting. According to her introduction, Huile Cai Technology Co., Ltd. provides self-service lottery machine operation services, including handling procedures, site selection and placement, operation and maintenance, and so on. Investors only need to rent a self-service lottery machine, with a rent of 20000 yuan and a dividend of 3.5% of the total revenue.
When asked why the dividend was 3.5%, the child said, "The lottery center is divided into two points, with 3.5 points for the operating company and 3.5 points for the individual."
"There are no city restrictions, with a daily income of 80-130 yuan and a monthly income of 2000-3000 yuan, which can be recouped in 8 months." In Xiao Tong's description, investing in a self-service lottery machine through a proxy operation model does not require any effort, and you only need to pay 20000 yuan to earn money. "You can see the income on its app every day and withdraw money every month."
In addition to the aforementioned proxy operation mode, Red Star Capital Bureau also found that another company called Jiangsu Xunke Technology can provide a self operation mode for self-service lottery machines.
On June 15th, investment personnel from Xunke Technology introduced that the self operation mode is for investors to find their own spots and submit them to the lottery center for review. Subsequently, a equipment usage fee of 19800 yuan was paid to the company's self-service lottery machine, and a 3-year contract was signed. The revenue is 7% of the lottery sales revenue, and it is claimed that high-quality spots can recoup in 2-3 months. "If you have no personal connections, you cannot apply." "You also cannot connect with the lottery center," the investment representative told Red Star Capital Bureau.
China Welfare Lottery Center: No cooperation with Huile Lottery
Two lottery centers issued statement reminders
From these investment advertisements, investing in a self-service lottery machine seems to be a profitable business. However, the investigation by the Red Star Capital Bureau found that the above-mentioned company claimed to be a reasonable and compliant project of China's lottery, but multiple lottery centers have clearly stated that they have not cooperated with any institutions or individuals.
Introduction to Qiyun Heyi Self service Lottery Machine
In the project introduction book sent by Xiao Tong, it was written: "The self-service lottery machine and the lottery tickets sold are provided by China Welfare Lottery. The signs on the machine and the lottery sales certificate are issued by China Welfare Lottery Center."
On June 15th, the Red Star Capital Bureau called China Welfare Lottery, and the staff clearly stated that China Welfare Lottery had not cooperated with any companies on such projects. The staff member also revealed that they had previously consulted Huile Cai Company, but China Welfare Cai definitely did not cooperate with them. The staff reminds that please do not easily trust third-party companies. If you want to apply for lottery betting stations or terminals, please contact the local provincial lottery center directly.
In addition, when describing the revenue of self-service lottery machines, the child mentioned that "the lottery center is divided into two points". The above staff also stated that some machines may have deposits, but the revenue sharing is generally not available.
As for the investment promotion personnel of Xunke Technology, they have no personal connections and cannot apply. They also cannot connect with the lottery center. Chinese lottery staff said that if you want to apply for cooperation, you can directly contact the local lottery center.
Ms. Liu, who has placed six Chinese lottery self-service machines in a shopping mall in Chongqing, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that she directly contacted the local lottery center to apply for the machines, without any deposit or usage fee, and the lottery center will not commission, only collecting lottery ticket fees.
However, currently, the policies for individuals applying for the qualification to operate self-service lottery machines vary in various provinces and cities. For example, Beijing and Shanghai have not opened such intelligent terminal devices for self-service lottery machines.
Red Star Capital Bureau noticed that on June 2nd, the Shaanxi Provincial Welfare Lottery Issuance Center issued a statement stating that recently, illegal companies or individuals have been conducting so-called lottery self-service terminal investment in our province under the name of welfare lottery. Prior to this, on May 26th, the Henan Provincial Sports Lottery Management Center also issued a similar statement, reminding the public to beware of being deceived.
The picture is from the official website of Shaanxi Welfare Lottery
Merchants claim to have a background in "state-owned enterprises"
The company has only been established for one month, and the phone has been shut down
Red Star Capital Bureau found that in the early stage of investment promotion, Huile Cai's investment representative Xiao Tong repeatedly stated that his company has a state-owned enterprise background.
In addition to the Huilecai mentioned in the project introduction, in Xiao Tong's description, there is also a 100% state-owned enterprise holding Shanghai Qiyun Heyi Technology Service Co., Ltd. involved.
According to public information, Huile Cai was established on February 28 this year, with the major shareholder and actual controller named Wang Zewei, holding 90% of the shares. Qiyun Heyi has just been established for one month, and its legal representative is also Wang Zewei, wholly-owned by Jingcheng Jiuding Digital Technology Co., Ltd.
Through equity penetration, it was found that Huile Cai has no background in state-owned enterprises, while Qiyun Heyi does have a background in a member company of the State Power Corporation, named China Energy Power Fuel Co., Ltd.
However, China Energy Power Fuel Co., Ltd. has been applied for compulsory liquidation and is also a dishonest person publicly disclosed by the Supreme People's Court.
Risk Warning for China Energy Power Fuel Co., Ltd
In addition, the Red Star Capital Bureau also noted that the proxy operation model of Huile Cai will provide generous "head pulling" rewards.
Xiao Tong mentioned that it is currently the company's promotion period, and if a self-service lottery machine is successfully promoted, you can receive a commission reward of 4000 yuan. As of now, she has promoted 10 people and withdrawn a commission of about 20000 yuan.
For the above questions, Red Star Capital Bureau attempted to contact Huile Cai and Qiyun Heyi Company for verification, but the former had no public phone number, while the latter's official website showed that the phone number was already down.
I only see the flow in the app and there is no physical lottery machine available
Some consumers question the proxy operation model, but there is no way to receive refunds
At the same time as multiple lottery centers issued statements reminding the public to beware of being deceived, the Red Star Capital Bureau found that consumers have raised doubts about this proxy operation model.
In mid May, Mr. Wang from Jiangsu posted that Hui Le Cai, under the guise of a state-owned enterprise, opened up self-service lottery machines for franchise. After investment, not only could he not see photos of the machines landing, but he also had no way to get refunds.
On June 15, Red Star Capital Bureau contacted Mr. Wang, who said that he had seen the joining information of self-service lottery machines from Tiktok and Xiaohongshu. He invested a total of three sets and spent 60000 yuan.
After making the payment, Mr. Wang wanted to know about the landing status of the self-service lottery machine he had invested in. He asked the staff of Hui Le Cai several times, but no one told him the location of the machine. He only said that the platform was being upgraded and could only be seen by the end of the month. In addition, the revenue of the self-service lottery machine can only be queried through the company's APP and cannot be directly withdrawn by clicking. Instead, it is transferred from the company account to Mr. Wang's bank card.
Daily revenue from self-service lottery machines, pictures provided by respondents
Mr. Wang questioned the above operation and subsequently stated that he wanted a refund, but Huile Cai informed him that the machine had been put into operation and could not be refunded.
In addition to Mr. Wang, the Red Star Capital Bureau has noticed that several users of Xiaohongshu have posted that Hui Le Cai's self-service lottery machines are mostly franchised and promoted, but there are no actual operational cases; Some users also stated that they participated in the online communication meeting of HuiLeCai and found out that it was a video replay.
Lawyer's reminder: Be vigilant without approval from relevant departments
On June 15th, Yang Chengfu, the chief lawyer of Beijing Sanqiu Law Firm, told the Red Star Capital Bureau that according to Mr. Wang's description from Jiangsu, the act of operating self-service lottery machines on behalf of Huile Lottery Company did not provide physical goods to customers and only delivered profits through commission, which has a reasonable suspicion of illegal possession and suspected fundraising fraud.
In addition, Lawyer Zhu Guoheng, a partner of Zhejiang Boyou Law Firm, analyzed that to determine whether it constitutes illegal fundraising, it is necessary to determine whether the following four characteristics are met: first, to absorb funds without the approval of relevant departments in accordance with the law or by borrowing legitimate business forms; The second is to publicly promote to society through media, promotional events, flyers, mobile text messages, and other means; The third is to promise to repay principal and interest or provide returns in monetary, physical, equity, and other forms within a certain period of time; The fourth is to absorb funds from the general public and unspecified individuals in society.
Lawyer Zhu Guoheng said that, specifically, in this event, "Huile Lottery" publicized to the public through Tiktok, Xiaohongshu and other online platforms to attract investment from unspecified people in the society. After investment, investors can see the corresponding income on the APP but can't withdraw it in time. Obviously, the last three characteristics have been met. If the background of the publicized state-owned enterprises is false and the form of lottery machine leasing has not been approved by the relevant departments, then it is suspected of illegal fund-raising, and investors should be alert.
