Shoppers often placed orders based on thousands of sales and “five-star ratings,” only to be left disappointed upon opening their packages. Behind these impressive figures lies a dark trend of “internet click farms” engaging in fraudulent practices to manipulate reviews and inflate sales for merchants. On October 15, the Sichuan Neijiang Public Security Bureau revealed that they recently dismantled a click farm operation that had, over the course of more than two years, falsified transactions and reviews for over 1,000 merchants on platforms like Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Pinduoduo, and Taobao, with the total fraud amounting to 100 million yuan. Authorities apprehended 23 suspects across 13 provinces, including Jilin, Guangxi, and Jiangxi.
In March of this year, police in Neijiang City became aware of a WeChat mini-program called “Certain Team,” which was using catchy phrases like “99 Viewing” and “Earn While You Sleep” to recruit individuals nationwide as “click farm” workers for fake online ordering. Further investigation revealed that new members of “Certain Team” were required to pay membership fees ranging from 199 yuan to 2,999 yuan. Depending on how much they paid, members would receive titles such as founder, director, or student, each corresponding to different roles like salesperson, clicker, or customer service representative.
To evade detection, “Certain Team” conducted transactions that mimicked legitimate shopping processes but without actually purchasing any products. When a fraudulent order was placed, merchants would send empty packages to simulate shipping. Once the delivery status showed that the package was signed for, customer service would quickly contact the clicker to leave a five-star review. The leaders of the group earned a commission of 1 to 50 yuan for each order processed.
Between April and August of this year, the Neijiang police established a task force that conducted raids in multiple provinces, apprehending 23 individuals involved in activities ranging from clickers to technical maintenance. They seized over 3 million yuan in funds, along with numerous phones, computers, SIM cards, and bank cards used in the illegal scheme. Since March 2022, this group had engaged in deceptive ordering and review boosting, impacting over 1,000 merchants across major platforms, leading to a staggering 100 million yuan in fraudulent charges.
