According to a recent report by Yunnan Net and Spring City Evening News, Mr. Li, a beverage distributor in Kunming, joined a QQ group called "Beverage Wholesale" for the sake of a price difference of one or two yuan per case. He transferred over 140,000 yuan in four installments to an unknown QQ contact from another province, intending to buy 400 cases of Red Bull and over 1,000 cases of Mizone. In the end, the money was transferred, but the goods never arrived. It can be said that "he failed to divert goods and ended up losing money"... Why did an experienced trader fall for this? Mr. Li has been in the beverage wholesale business in Kunming. In August or September 2017, he added a QQ group called "Beverage Wholesale" via QQ. He recalled that after joining the group, people posted beverage wholesale information every day. At first, these messages did not attract his attention. He knew that he had chatted with some of these posters before, but no deals were made, so he considered the information unreliable. Initially, Mr. Li was rational, but scams often succeed not because there are too many fraudsters or the victims are too stupid, but because the temptation is big enough. However, on February 27 this year, a message in the "Beverage Wholesale" group caught his eye: an advertisement for Red Bull wholesale. Red Bull has always had a high unit price, good profit margins, and fast turnover, with a gross profit of over ten yuan per case. Which beverage wholesaler wouldn't be tempted? Mr. Li immediately became interested and privately messaged the QQ user who posted the ad. Mr. Li said the reply was professional: they were in Shijiazhuang doing beverage wholesale, and because the local sales were poor, they had a batch of Red Bull to dispose of. According to industry practice, FMCG products like beverages have price differences between regions. He asked if there was a price difference, and the other party confirmed there was. Based on the quote, each case of Red Bull was one to two yuan cheaper than in Kunming. This became the beginning of Mr. Li's downfall. The longest road in life is the "trap" As a seasoned beverage distributor, Mr. Li would not make a hasty decision based on one-sided information. To further verify the other party's identity, he asked for their ID card and bank card to check if the identity matched the bank account. The other party provided the name "Li Ruohan," a local of Shijiazhuang, born in the 1990s. After confirming the name and bank card information, Mr. Li was still uneasy, so he asked the other party to find a logistics company to ship from Shijiazhuang to Kunming. "On March 1 this year, I made the first purchase of 400 cases of Red Bull," Mr. Li said. The other party told him that "Huaxun Logistics" would handle the transportation. To ensure everything was safe, he obtained the phone number of the manager of the Shijiazhuang branch of Huaxun Logistics from the Kunming branch. After calling the number, Mr. Li said that since it was his first contact with the seller, he wanted to confirm that the Red Bull had arrived at the logistics company before making the payment. If it had arrived, he would transfer the money. Mr. Li said that at around 2 p.m. that day, he received a message from Shijiazhuang Huaxun Logistics saying that the Red Bull had arrived and was being unloaded. This news reassured Mr. Li, and he immediately transferred over 43,000 yuan as payment. He thought he had taken all precautions, but he didn't realize that "the devil is in the details" and he was falling into a "serial scam." Want to know about discounted Mizone, Nongfu, and Cola? On March 4, Mr. Li received another call from "Li Ruohan," who said they mainly dealt in Red Bull, but the boss's friend had a batch of Mizone drinks. The boss was in Beijing, and if he wanted, they could send a large truck together. So, for the second time, Mr. Li transferred over 20,000 yuan to buy Mizone drinks. Just after buying Mizone, the next day the other party said they also had a batch of Nongfu series drinks with a price difference, as they weren't selling well in Shijiazhuang, and the boss wanted to sell more. For the third "tempting transaction," Mr. Li paid over 39,000 yuan. On March 6, he bought Cola series drinks as well. From March 1 to March 6, within a week, Mr. Li made four purchases, transferring a total of 147,900 yuan to the stranger "Li Ruohan." From cautious actions to four payments in a week, who knows what Mr. Li went through... "Why can't I find the shipping information at Huaxun Logistics in Kunming?" Until March 10, when Mr. Li asked for the waybill, the other party hesitated and said the goods would be shipped together from Shijiazhuang, asking him to wait a few more days. On the phone, the other party first said the goods wouldn't go through that logistics company, then made excuses about attending a funeral and needing to delay. "Didn't the logistics company confirm the goods had arrived?" The other party kept delaying shipment, and Mr. Li finally realized he might have been scammed... It's not that there are too many fraudsters, but that they are too professional Having "woken up," Mr. Li immediately searched on Baidu Tieba and found many negative posts about Li Ruohan. There were similar victims in Hebei, Tianjin, Hubei, and other places. Mr. Li said that after contacting these victims, they provided evidence of their own scams. In this information age, Mr. Li could have searched online, but why did he trust the other party just by seeing an ID card and bank card? A Mr. Wang from Hebei said that on January 4 this year, he added Li Ruohan on WeChat via QQ and transferred money for drinks, losing 1,300 yuan. A victim surnamed Qin from Handan, Hebei, in September 2016, also bought drinks from Li Ruohan via a QQ group, transferring 21,000 yuan via bank card. The money was transferred, but the goods never arrived, and later calls went unanswered. To this day, the matter remains unresolved. Mr. Li counted at least five similar scams. Additionally, some victims believed that before paying, they had verified with the logistics company that the goods had arrived, so the logistics company should bear responsibility. To their disappointment, when they approached the logistics company, they were told "the manager made a mistake" and nothing more. Kunming police have filed a fraud case for investigation A reporter from Spring City Evening News contacted Kunming Huaxun Logistics. A staff member said they didn't know how Mr. Li and the shipper had negotiated. Huaxun Logistics is headquartered in Shijiazhuang, and they provided the phone number of a staff member surnamed Wang at Shijiazhuang Huaxun Logistics, which was the same number Mr. Li had contacted. On the phone, the staff member said they didn't know how much money Mr. Li had transferred, but when the reporter tried to get more information, the staff member said they were busy and hung up. On March 12, Mr. Li reported the case to the police. On March 22, the Kunming Public Security Bureau's National Economic and Technological Development Branch decided to file a case as fraud. "Cross-regional selling" is not advisable; beware of scams At the same time, we can only express sympathy for victims like Mr. Li, but we do not endorse the motive of "cross-regional selling" and the potential disruption to normal market order. Although the market is tough, "cross-regional selling" is an act of unfair competition. Pursuing self-interest at the expense of market and industry health will ultimately lead to a "lips and teeth" situation. But for this online transaction scam, we hope every industry colleague can learn from it and face so-called "temptations" with a calm and rational mindset. Technological advances have made life more convenient but also facilitated new types of fraud. The key point exploited by new scams is the close relationships and weak awareness in QQ groups, WeChat groups, and other circle-based communication, leaving room for fraudsters. How to prevent such incidents? First, be cautious when joining QQ groups and WeChat groups. With frequent personal information leaks, group admins should set up "multiple anti-fraud" measures when verifying applicants, such as ID numbers, photos, addresses, and workplaces. The more verification, the less risk. Individuals should also observe the group's information exchange and member credibility, and avoid sharing personal privacy if unfamiliar. Second, for any fraudulent behavior, especially involving borrowing money or transferring funds, be extra cautious. It's best to verify in person to be safe. Third, don't easily believe the other party's claims of "not selling well" or "hard to sell." Thoroughly verify the counterparty's qualifications and reputation, and don't rush into a deal with a speculative mindset of "all good things come to me." In today's world, making money is hard. May all business people keep their eyes open and cherish every step. Source: Food Review (ID: shipingfang0818) -END-