Question raising

Case 1: A salesperson from a certain shopping mall holds a shopping mall membership card processed with her husband's ID card. Shopping with the membership card can enjoy points and receive gifts at the end of the year. During work, A used this membership card to pay for customers and accumulated a total of 100000 points. When exchanging gifts, he was discovered by the mall and believed that his behavior constituted a crime, so he reported to the police.

Case 2: B is a merchant on a certain shopping platform. The platform has launched promotional activities, allowing customers to purchase Maotai at the original price with points when shopping for a certain amount. B purchased goods from his own store and exchanged a lot of Maotai with points, but was discovered and reported by the mall.

Case 3: C discovered that a certain platform has launched a promotional activity for newly registered members. By registering as a new member using their phone number, they can receive coupons. Bing then collected a large number of mobile phone numbers to register as new members and receive coupons before shopping. Alarm upon being detected by the platform.

The above three cases are typical cases of wool harvesting. Harvesting wool refers to a group of online earners using various online financial products or red envelope activities to promote offline profits, and also refers to collecting preferential information from various banks, financial institutions, and businesses in order to achieve profitability. At present, wool collection is not only limited to the field of Internet finance, but also has penetrated into various fields of society. Many activities, such as taking out coupons, discounts, phone calls, and traffic, can be called wool collection.

At present, the criminalization of wool harvesting has been seen in news reports. A certain shopping platform launched a promotion to register new users and attract new users to give away coupons. Wang illegally obtained a large number of virtual accounts to register new users, obtained a large number of new user coupons and invitation coupons, purchased a large number of physical goods at a low price, and reselled them to earn the price difference. For example, a certain shopping mall provides one hour of free parking for new members, and multiple defendants use malicious code taking software to register a large number of new users and earn points. They then use the points to exchange for free parking time, and pay parking fees ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan less. Both of these actions are deemed to constitute fraud.

Merchants launch promotional activities to offer profits to customers and stimulate consumption, which should be a win-win result. However, some people use them to seek huge profits, exceeding the expectations of the merchants and deviating from the purpose of the promotion. But not all wool harvesting behaviors constitute crimes. The author believes that only those who clearly violate the conditions set by the merchant and use fraudulent means to obtain benefits can constitute crimes. Any behavior that meets the merchant's preferential conditions should be legal and reasonable.

Merchants always offer various promotional activities for profit, some of which are long-term and some are carried out at specific times; Some are aimed at everyone, while others are only targeted at specific groups. The forms of promotional activities offered by merchants are diverse, and the direct goals achieved are also different. Some are to stimulate consumption, some are to attract new customers, and some are to increase the stickiness of old customers, but the overall goal is to increase profits.

There is an equal civil relationship between merchants and consumers. Merchants actively offer discounts and set favorable conditions. Consumers can enjoy discounts as long as their behavior meets the conditions set by the merchants. Only fraudulent behavior may be suspected of committing crimes, such as impersonating identity or using false information. The following author will elaborate on several aspects:

The conditions set by merchants should be clear and consistent with the promotional objectives

The purpose of promotion is the internal thoughts and intentions of the merchant, while the preferential conditions are external agreements or commitments. Merchants have a specific purpose for each promotion and set their own suitable discount conditions to achieve the goal. For example, businesses offer certain discounts to newly registered members in order to attract new customers and expand their consumer base. Consumers have no obligation to speculate on the merchant's purpose and comply, as long as they meet the conditions set by them, they can enjoy discounts. This is like citizens having no obligation to examine the legislative purpose, as long as they implement actions according to the literal meaning of the law.

If the consumer's behavior of enjoying discounts does not meet the purpose of the merchant, it is caused by unclear agreements between the merchants. For example, consumers can register new members with multiple mobile phone numbers or ID number. If the business does not prohibit one person from registering multiple members, consumers can enjoy the privilege of multiple new members. That is to say, consumers only need to pay attention to the conditions set by the merchant, without considering whether their behavior is the desired or expected behavior of the merchant.

In case 1, the shopping mall where A is located provides consumers with a certain proportion of points based on the amount of consumption, in order to increase customer stickiness and promote repeat consumption. Points are the rights and interests of consumers that arise with consumer behavior, and the original intention of shopping malls is to encourage consumers to enjoy them. But the mall does not prohibit salespersons from applying for membership cards, nor does it prohibit customers from using salesperson's membership cards, nor does it prohibit consumers from giving their points to others for use. The salesperson essentially accepts the points rights and interests transferred by the consumer, which is a legal civil legal relationship between the consumer and the salesperson. The mall has no right to refuse the salesperson to enjoy the points rights and interests.

In Case 2, the platform's promotional activities are aimed at increasing revenue, with the original intention of attracting consumers to consume on the platform. The promotional expenses are borne by the platform, and the platform's revenue comes from the management fees of each merchant. But the platform does not prohibit merchants from consuming, nor does it prohibit merchants from consuming products from their own stores. Merchants also make payments according to the platform's payment channels and will pay platform management fees proportionally. No matter who consumes, the platform receives the same management fee. So the merchant's consumption is not different from ordinary consumers due to their special identity, and they should enjoy the discounts provided by the platform.

Merchants can offer discounts to unspecified individuals as long as they meet the set conditions. Consumer behavior that meets the conditions is considered a commitment to the merchant. As long as consumers meet the set conditions, merchants must offer discounts, otherwise it is a breach of contract. Consumers who file lawsuits based on this will also receive support from the court. So, businesses cannot consider consumer behavior that does not meet their purpose as a crime. And detailed rules and conditions should be set according to their own promotional purposes, so that consumer consumption behavior cannot deviate from the merchant's objectives. Otherwise, if the so-called "losses" caused by inaccurate conditions set by the merchant can only be borne by the merchant themselves.

Behavior that satisfies conditions through illegal or deceptive means may be suspected of committing a crime

The conditions set by merchants should be understood based on general social concepts and in line with the common sense of ordinary people. The promotional conditions announced by merchants are based on the general understanding of the general public, and the language used is also in line with the general level of understanding. Therefore, consumers should interpret and apply the promotional conditions of merchants using commonly accepted concepts and meanings in daily life. A mobile phone number should refer to a registered phone number with a real name that can be used normally. If the conditions are met through obvious illegal means, it may be suspected of committing a crime. As mentioned earlier, a certain vegetable buying platform was involved in a fraud case, where the suspect used illegal means to obtain a large number of virtual accounts to register new users and obtain coupons. For example, in the case of parking fee fraud, the suspect used malicious code taking software to register a large number of new users and earn points. The methods used in these two cases are clearly illegal. Virtual numbers do not require real name registration, do not have corresponding identity information, and lack many functions that normal phone numbers have. The suspect is aware that these virtual accounts or phone numbers are different from the normal use of mobile phones, which violates the usual meaning of the terms set by the merchant, and is only for the purpose of registering and obtaining discounts. A real phone number is not only used for communication and contact, but more importantly, it represents an identity information. Therefore, satisfying the conditions of the merchant through illegal means is not a legally protected civil act, and its illegality is beyond doubt. The purpose of the perpetrator's illegal possession is also exposed.

Consumers who impersonate their identities and obtain discounts through deceptive means may also be suspected of committing crimes.

Merchants sometimes offer discounts to specific groups of people, such as people with disabilities, minors, or elderly people over a certain age. The merchant has specified the target audience for the discount, and people outside of this specific group are not eligible to enjoy the discount. If consumers are aware of this condition and still use fraudulent means to impersonate their identity and enjoy preferential treatment, their illegal possession purpose is undoubtedly revealed, and they may be suspected of committing financial crimes.

In summary, the author's conclusion is that for the conditions set by merchants, as long as they meet the usual literal meaning, they can enjoy their discounts, and they can also enjoy multiple discounts without violating the conditions. However, meeting the conditions through illegal means or impersonating a specific identity may be suspected of committing a crime.