Game refund scam: multiple social platforms are used to attract customers and “collect money” by legal consulting services as cover.
On May 28th, 2024, the “Requirements for Consumer Protection in Online Games for Minors (Draft for Comments)” was released, which filled the gap in standards for online consumer issues related to minors and extended into a new profession – professional refund agents.
A person named Xiao Rui (a pseudonym) who claims to be a professional refund agent for games and other platforms said that the industry of game refund is “making a lot of money with minimal cost”. His younger sibling had recharged nearly nine thousand yuan on a game platform, and he successfully applied for a refund to help his sibling, thus becoming a professional refund agent. “Promise full refunds and also refunds for adults, 99% of them are scams.”
While minors can get refunds, a new type of “refund scam” has also emerged.
Li Xing (a pseudonym) once fell into such a scam. She saw on social media that someone claimed to have successfully refunded, and after adding their WeChat, she was pushed the contact information of a “legal advisor”. She was deceived 300 yuan by this.
Using P-copied successful refund screenshots to attract customers on social platforms is a common trick used by some “legal consultation” companies. They lure customers to their WeChat accounts, ask them to pay “service fees”, and then “disappear”. Not only are the screenshots P-copied, but even the “legal advisors” of legal consultation companies are only middle-level professionals with no legal knowledge background. Reporters also found that some legal consulting companies were registered only three months ago and have been cancelled.
Zhu Wei, an associate professor at China University of Political Science and Law, said that while professional refund agents have made refunds a professional behavior, which is reasonable, in reality, “professional refunds often become a gimmick for fraud, which is actually a variant of telecommunications fraud.”
The reporter searched with keywords such as “game refund” on multiple social platforms and found that someone claimed that they sought help from refund agents but fell into a scam.
Xiao Rui also said that many parents of children in rural areas do not understand these things at all. If they have sufficient information, they can apply for refunds themselves. Otherwise, this industry will not grow so fast. He charges a 10% introduction fee and will also advance consultation fees of 100 yuan for those who seek help from him. “Generally, when I advance the consultation fee, both sides have reached a preliminary agreement, and we will sign a contract then.”
He introduced that many lawyers do not take such cases because formal legal consultation is expensive, and many online legal companies do not have lawyers. Including his own company, there are no lawyers.
He claimed to have many successful refund cases, but also admitted that there are many scams. He has seen people who wanted refunds but were deceived for thousands of yuan. “As long as you promise a full refund and also offer refunds for adults, 99% of them are scams.”
Pengpai News noted that there are “维权中心” on e-commerce platforms claiming to help with refunds. A customer service representative from a “Runlv Professional维权Center” on Taobao told the reporter that they can accept orders if they can accept them. The current case can generally achieve a refund rate between 60% to 100%. Children under the age of 8 can achieve a refund rate of 99% to 100%. The specific refund amount needs to be discussed with the “director” in a 1-on-1 meeting.
Whether adults can get refunds for games also attracted attention. In the meantime, a new type of “refund scam” has emerged. Pengpai News investigations found that some people pretend to be successful refund users, posting successful refund screenshots on social media or second-hand trading platforms to attract customers. They lure customers from various social platforms to WeChat under the guise of “legal consultation” or “legal advisors”, ask them to pay “service fees” and sign contracts or oral promises, but cannot get refunds and disappear at the end. This is one of the ways that some refund scams get money.
Recently, reporters used keywords such as “game refund” on multiple social platforms and found that someone claimed to have sought help from a refund person but fell into a scam. When someone posted that adults can also be refunded, many people would quickly ask “how to refund”, “teach me”, etc. at this time, some people will hint them to contact them through private messages.
Zhang Yue (a pseudonym) and Li Xing have both fallen into such scams. Zhang Yue tried to sell her game account on the second-hand trading website “Idle Fish” and was targeted by scammers. She said that after filling out her information and paying the deposit, she found that the company was already cancelled when she wanted to follow up
