This article is from WeChat public account:China Economic Weekly (ID: ChinaEconomicWeekly), Reporter: Guo Zhiqiang, Cover: Visual China
In recent days, due to alleged pyramid schemes, illegal fund-raising, financial fraud and other illegal acts, the App Fun, which is known as “walking to make money”, was officially opened for investigation by the industry and commerce department.
Since the second half of 2018, an app called “Fun Step” suddenly became popular, and it was once the first place in the App market for life-like downloads.
From the moment of being tempted to being investigated, what is the interesting step in the concept of blockchain? Behind the “walking can make money”, what kind of trap is hidden?
Behind the “walking can make money” is “mining” or “digging”?
The fun-step app promoted in 2018, with its model of “letting sweat not flow” and “making money by walking”, it quickly became popular.
Interest step said that users can use the number of steps to redeem goods on the “Fun Step” app, and even withdraw cash; as long as they walk 4,000 steps per day, they can earn at least 200 yuan per month, and they are not capped.
This “healthy + profitable” business model is undoubtedly quite attractive to the average user. Therefore, the Fun Step App once boarded the first place in the life of a mobile application platform at the beginning of this year.
According to the rules of the fun step, the fun step calculates the “candy” based on the number of movement steps of the user, that is, “integration”. Users can use “Candy” to redeem items such as shoes and hats in the “Fun Steps”, as well as merchant coupon redemption, rewards, rewards and other applications. In this way, “candy” has a certain currency attribute, “making money while walking.”
However, walking alone is not enough. Fun Step has set a rule in the app: Users can become “heads” by developing the offline line. For each additional line, the head of the team can get the “candy” income of this downline. If the head of the team continues to develop their downline, the gains that the head of the team will gain will grow exponentially.
According to the formula of “candy” output, the number of “candy” is obtained daily = 0.00008 × task steps × activity, wherein each person’s basic activity is 1, team +0.02, recommended new user authentication can be obtained The activity of 0.05 is added. Therefore, under the premise of not teaming up and not recommending new users, the “candy” earned by only the number of steps is really limited. Moreover, the sale of the “Candy” platform will also deduct 50% of the handling fee, and the amount of money left is not much left.
Fun step users don’t have to pay for the number of steps, they need to pull the head, otherwise they can’t complete the task. Most users will choose to spend money to buy “candy” and start the task under the high return. More and more funds are deposited on the platform to ensure the high return of the first-in-comers. Therefore, the business model of the interest step is referred to as the “funding disk of the blockchain coat”.
In the eyes of the industry, this actually has the typical characteristics of pyramid schemes: the superiors harvest the lower level, without any value output. However, it is impossible for the fun step to pull people in. When the “Pan Man” is gradually exhausted, the business model of the fun step will be difficult to continue playing, and the funds of most users will be difficult to preserve.
From the beginning of the gimmick “walking to make money” into “investment buys the number of steps”, pull the head, the fun of the “unprofitable” for the user is not “mining” but “digging pits.”
Han Wei, a lawyer at Beijing Kangda Law Firm, believes that “Fun Step” is suspected of violating the Prohibition of Pyramid Regulations, and users may become accomplices in pyramid schemes. According to Article 7 of the Regulations on the Prohibition of MLM, the organizer or the operator, through the development personnel, requires the development personnel to develop other personnel to join, forming a relationship between the upper and lower lines, and calculating and paying the online payment based on the sales performance of the following lines. The act of extracting illegal interests is a pyramid scheme.
Technology columnist Xin Haiguang wrote: “The ‘walking to make money’ involves funding. The biggest risk is that information is opaque and asymmetrical. Users and investors don’t know where their money is going or whether the return is reasonable. .”
Registration change, Changsha headquarters people go to the building
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On October 15, the reporter visited the park where the original headquarters of the company was located. The staff said: The company has moved out of the park. “China Economic Weekly” reporter Guo Zhiqiang | Photograph
On October 15th, the reporter of China Economic Weekly came to the location of the industrial and commercial registration of the company, and the original company headquarters had already gone to the building.
The staff responsible for the investment in the park told the reporter that “The company has settled in the park in 2018 and moved away in June this year. It is not clear where to move.”
Alleged pyramid schemes, illegal fundraising, financial fraud were investigated
A few days ago, the Qiaobu APP has been removed from multiple application platforms. (http://www.51qub.cn) Cannot open, showing “Website closed”. The company has also been investigated by the Industrial and Commercial Branch of the Economic Development Zone of Changsha City for illegal activities such as online pyramid schemes, illegal fund-raising, and financial fraud.
Changsha City Government official website “Mayor Mailbox” on whether the company is suspected of pyramid scheme reply
On September 17, Changsha City Economic Development Zone passed the mayor’s mailbox to respond to the consultant’s “fun step is a pyramid scheme”, clearly indicating that the fun step is suspected of network marketing. Respond to: 1. “Footstep” company and “Fun Step” project are suspected of network marketing,Illegal fund-raising, financial fraud, Changsha City Administration of Industry and Economic Development Bureau has opened a case investigation; 2. Advise consultants and their relatives and friends not to participate in the “Fun Step” project, do not speculate on “Candy”.
It is worth noting that after being investigated, the company is still updating. On September 26th, Funbu Company released the download link of the fun step APP for Android platform. The reporter successfully downloaded and installed through the link.
In addition to the fun step, there are still a number of “living” apps on the market, claiming that users can make money by watching videos, sleeping, running, etc.
“The seemingly unprofitable buying and selling, in fact, lurks a very large consumer trap. Because many consumers not only have to spend a lot of time, but also have to watch a lot of fake advertising. Some people have finally got some rewards, It is hard to add to the current situation.” In this regard, Liu Junhai, a professor at Renmin University of China Law School, reminds consumers to be vigilant. Don’t believe in such advertisements that use mobile phones and use WeChat to make money easily, so as not to be deceived.
This article is from WeChat public account:China Economic Weekly (ID: ChinaEconomicWeekly), Reporter: Guo Zhiqiang, Editor: Xie Wei