The network is a virtual space, and illegal pyramid sellers use this feature of the network to hide their eyes and ears and engage in karate with the help of high technology and e-commerce. In the above case, members only get virtual cyberspace (so-called e-commerce package, just renting the server space of the company), and they have developed from pyramid selling traditional physical products to purely for the purpose of developing members to get bonuses. Some payment methods are online payment, which is completely "e-commerce".
2, more deceptive
Using the website as a pyramid scheme platform is more deceptive and hidden than traditional pyramid schemes. Most of these MLM websites are attractive under the banner of distance education, personal entrepreneurship training and e-commerce, which masks the profitable nature of developing members (offline). Taking Beijing Ouya Yewei MLM as an example, the collected data show that Beijing Ouya Ye Wei International Co., Ltd. develops MLM with the help of high technology under the guise of developing its own e-commerce and promoting the development of information industry. The company's website lists business planning, personal finance, distance education, training, traders, publicity services, information services, 60mb space, management control center and other sections, which are very tempting and deceptive from wording to slogan. Many offline personnel have no judgment ability and think that this is e-commerce. After being arrested, they repeatedly stressed that they were not involved in pyramid schemes but in new consumption.
3. Strong concealment
Compared with traditional pyramid schemes, online pyramid schemes are more subtle. Membership development is carried out on the Internet. Members can only join MLM through the website. The user names they use are pseudonyms or codes, and they all have their own login passwords. The contact between them is mainly done by email or instant messaging tool (icq). Moreover, the website also requires all remittances to be bank transfers, avoiding the need to meet offline and online in traditional pyramid schemes. The manipulator changed from bright to dark, hiding behind the scenes. Wan Yixian was seized by law enforcement agencies, and online can also escape immediately. Because the offline development of members is only reflected in the Internet, members keep a single line of contact in pyramid schemes, and the industrial and commercial departments can't verify the true information of the company's website and the true identity of members when investigating, and it is almost impossible to trace online only by online information.
4. Cross-regional communication
Internet communication is cross-regional, which makes MLM break through the restrictions of regions and national boundaries, even in a country, it is everywhere. However, due to the limitation of territorial jurisdiction, local industrial and commercial departments can only supervise pyramid schemes in their respective jurisdictions and cannot cut off nationwide pyramid schemes from the source. The backbone of pyramid schemes often "change one place with one shot" and commit crimes all over the country. We can only catch local leaders and "keep one party safe", but we can't do anything to destroy the whole pyramid scheme, but we can treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. At the same time, it is also difficult to investigate and collect evidence. As for transnational network marketing, because the website is registered abroad and there is no industrial and commercial registration agency in China, it faces the problems of legal application and international jurisdiction. Moreover, it is difficult to strike effectively by the strength of one country alone, which requires the full cooperation of the international community. However, at present, countries have different views on pyramid schemes, and it is extremely difficult to achieve the consistency of legal standards.
5. Being in the "grey zone" of industrial and commercial supervision.
There are so many online resources that it is difficult for the industrial and commercial departments to find clues of illegal pyramid schemes in hundreds of millions of information. What's more, the MLM website can only be logged in by registered users, and ordinary users can't browse its content, and the website management is not within the scope of industrial and commercial supervision. Therefore, the industrial and commercial departments can not actively supervise suspicious websites according to their functions and powers, but can only crack down when pyramid schemes are discovered or reported in the real world, and there are few channels to obtain case information, which leads to the industrial and commercial departments being extremely passive in investigating online pyramid schemes.