Your WeChat Account May be Blocked If You Scan Those QR Codes

‘Followoursubscription accounttosupport our startup!’

‘Follow our subscription accountandget an icecream for free!’

The list goes on…

……

Anyone using WeChat is quite familiar with those types of messages; we come across them almost every day, always asking us to scan a QR code that is advertised as being mutually beneficial.

Those who regularly commuteon the subway in China have probably noticed the presence of ‘QR code beggars’, people who walk alongsubwaycarsand bend over with their phones to ask commuters to scan the QR code they display in front of them. In an attempt to shed more light on these rather unusual ‘favors’, we decided to investigate further into it and have gathered some valuable insights.

But don’t befooled by these scammers. Many netizens took it to social media to report their encounters whenever they were asked to scan a QR code while on the subway or some place else.

There are also a largeamountof similarnews reports on the internet.

While some people merely believe that these QR codes are for promotional purposes only and decide to walk away from them, others fall into their trap by thinking that all they need to do is scan it and follow their account without any real effort. The problem is, scanning those QR codes doesn’t actually prompt you to follow any WeChat account. Instead, it requires a 「safety verification code」 to help unban their account.

What does 「unbanning an account」 mean?

According to WeChat: WeChat accounts canbe blocked due to various violations which can be un-banned by a well-recorded WeChat account. But a frozen vicious account can’t be un-banned usingthis method.

Only by scanning their QR code can their account be unfrozen. No confirmation button.

On August 26, a reporter went 「undercover」 and agreed to scan those QR codes after about 5-6 people approached him in several crowded areas of the city to ask him to 「support their business」.

The reporter scanned the QR code provided by one of thestrangersand received the following confirmation message:’You have completed the verification’.

To his surprise, the process was fairly easy – too easy. There was no further action required on his part after scanning the QR code.

Forming an underground industry chainwith RMB 60 made per QR code scan.

The reporterdug deeper into this and quickly found that loads of 「unbanned WeChat groups」 exist online.People accept the order and earn money.

Loads of 「unbanned WeChat groups」 exist online.

One of thegroup adminstold the reporterthatthere are two types of WeChat auxiliarybusinesses- ‘WeChat account registrationassist’ and ‘WeChat unblocked assistance’. Registration makes RMB25 per scan, while unblock assistance makesRMB 60 per scan.

Through intra-group communication, the reporter found that the WeChat auxiliaryregistrationprocesshas formed a complete closed loop. Anyone who requires someone to unblockhis/her WeChataccountprovidesaccounts in the groupchat, which are then distributed by the group administrator and the received ordersbythe group members. The reporter noted that most of the members can completemore than 10 orders per day.

What’s more, there is also a multi-layer agency for WeChat registration assist ordering platform withinthisnetwork.Oncethe subordinate completes the task, his or hersuperior will also receive a reward.

1. Task procedure adjustment, OR code scanning task order distribution based on province.

2.Subordinate assist code’s registration location should be thesame as thesuperior’s.

3. Same registration location,no needto fillout ‘bank card details’.

4. To prevent vicious orders, everyone should pay RMB 0.1 to receive the order(which can be refunded within one second.

According to theabove situation, Tencent antifraud officers told the reporter:

「Such scamsoften occur in crowded places. Please be vigilant and donot to scanthoseQR codes. Only acquaintances who have verified their identitiescan use WeChat assisted operations.

At the same time, if youhave already been deceived, you should promptly reach out toTencent’scustomer service team online to report yoursituation.

If the unblocked account is blocked again, accounts that have been unblocked will also be blocked.

According to Tencent’s regulations:

The same account can only be used to assist twice a month, which also have to fulfill the following requirements:with an attaching bank card or phone number, registration period no longer than 6 months, as well as not overpass the assist times (once per month, twice per 6 months, 3 times per year).

Source: 人民日報

Supervisor:CrystalHuang

Editor: SC

Co-editor:Ed Bellin

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