Telemarketing is ＂tricky＂： the intelligent outbound call system claims to be able to make thousands of calls a day and prevent the number from being blocked.

"Congratulations on lending 500,000 yuan, and customers can’t keep up." Xiao Bo (a pseudonym), who claimed to be an intelligent outbound service provider for telemarketing, updated his circle of friends with a screenshot of a customer’s successful lending. In Xiao Bo’s circle of friends, there are many similar "success stories". Xiao Bo claims that his telemarketing robot can make more than 1,000 calls in a single day, and the connection rate remains at 30% or even higher, and can avoid supervision and prevent titles.

Are you still bothered by harassing calls about selling loans and POS machines?

From late October to November, 2021, The Paper reporter found that the chaos in the telemarketing industry still exists. The technical model of "outbound call system+telemarketing robot" claims to be able to accurately dial the special line and mark the customer information, and evade the supervision of communication operators through technology; Behind it are hidden behaviors such as illegal trading of personal information and illegal sales of POS machines.

The so-called "anti-sealing" call-out system for electric sales

Telemarketing is a sales method relying on telephone, which contacts customers through special telephone marketing numbers to complete product promotion, quotation, transaction, etc., but this method is often easy to cause harassment to users. In the media reports, there are many cases in which telephone users are often disturbed by receiving telemarketing calls. In recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the three major operators have taken measures such as "high-frequency call blocking". However, with the application of intelligent voice and other technologies, the intelligent outbound calling software system, which claims to be able to make a large number of calls a day and "prevent blocking" (prevent blocking), still makes users hard to prevent.

A recent survey in The Paper found that some telemarketing software used "anti-sealing" as a gimmick to attract customers, and all kinds of "anti-sealing robots" gradually became popular in the market.

In Baidu Post Bar and Tencent QQ, the keyword "electricity sales" is searched, which shows a lot of information about "electricity sales software". The reporter randomly joined a QQ group named "Outbound Call System for Telemarketing", with more than 1,000 members and an account named "Chamber of Commerce for Telemarketing Systems" posting various promotional information related to Telemarketing from time to time in the group. "electricity sales card", "electricity sales App" and "electricity sales anti-sealing system" ……

The sales information in the group claims that the services provided can cover the whole industry such as finance, collection, loan, insurance, health care, drinks, auto insurance and games.

The reporter randomly added the WeChat of Xiao Bo, a telemarketing intelligent outbound service provider, from the QQ group. He asked the reporter what business he wanted to do, saying, "Let’s see if we can do it. Now the telecom fraud investigation is strict." After confirming that it was a "campus loan" business, he enthusiastically introduced his products and sent a price list, including a set of real-life speech made by 300 yuan, and a robot package divided into basic version, premium version and agent version according to different price points and specifications. During the conversation, Xiao Bo said that most of his clients are selling financial stocks, loan insurance and POS machine sales, all of which can be "sealed".

In his description, the "anti-sealing robot" does not need any calling cards and auxiliary equipment, and the outbound call system purchased together will use the group call line to dial the number. Regarding the reporter’s question that "making too many calls will not be seized", Xiao Bo replied that a certain line will inevitably have complaints every month, but as long as it reaches the upper limit of the complaint rate, it will stop the line and replace it with another one, so as to prevent the system purchased by customers from being blocked. He also mentioned a new business to be launched soon-an anti-sealing App for electricity sales. In the promotional picture of the App, the words "the three major operators’ Puka seconds turn white list and the high frequency does not seal the number" are placed in the most conspicuous position.

In order to further dispel the reporter’s doubts, Xiao Bo added, "We are first-class landing line operators and all cooperate with operators."

He Zheng (a pseudonym), another service provider who claimed to be engaged in the research and development of the telemarketing system for 6 years, explained to reporters that the telemarketing robot business on the market now basically adopts the "line+system+service" model. Buyers only need to use the account they provide, and they can enjoy a full set of services, "including technical support, carrying lines and after-sales."

In the 1 minute and 22 second recording of "Loan Talk" he sent, a customer on the other end of the phone in love women, who claimed to be a "customer service representative of a bank", indicated that he could handle a loan of 3-5 million yuan and "pay it back as you borrow it". In this conversation, the customer service representative repeatedly said that he was a staff member of "a bank credit center" and asked about the occupation of the telemarketing customer, the loan and insurance business he handled, and "whether there is a house or a car under his name".

He Zheng said that the so-called "bank customer service representative" bought their telemarketing system, recorded it in advance, and combined it into a complete sales talk according to the matching of the system. The customer thought it was a real person and was constantly "promoted", and might place a loan order. But in fact, they don’t know whether this "bank customer service representative" is a bank staff member or a telecom fraudster.

The "material dealer" in the dark of the electricity sales industry

In the telemarketing industry, an important part is to obtain customer information resources. The illegal trading of personal information also breeds in the dark.

After the reporter joined a QQ group, a "supplier" who claimed to specialize in health care lines (the person who provided information such as the user’s phone number) sent a message in the QQ group saying that he obtained the information of consumers who bought a health care book in TV shopping programs and then sold it to the telemarketing team or system service provider who promoted health care products. In the screenshots he sent, these consumers are distributed in different provinces such as Shandong, Henan and Zhejiang.

Compared with system service providers, "material suppliers" are more cautious. They usually don’t directly give contact information such as WeChat or telephone, and they will communicate further after confirming that the other party is an "intended customer".

In a chat with a "supplier" named AZY, the reporter learned that most customer resources are divided into "AI materials" and "hand-stripping materials". "AI material" is provided for electric sales robots, while "hand stripping material" is provided for employees who make phone calls manually. According to the feedback rate of dialing, the prices of the two "materials" are also different. Generally speaking, the feedback rate of "hand stripping" is higher than that of "AI material" and therefore the price is higher.

According to the price standard sent by AZY, 600 yuan RMB can buy 10,000 pieces of AI materials or 1,000 pieces of user information. These materials are usually replaced by different pinyin abbreviations, such as the special line for investors, which they call "GM powder", and the online loan, which is called "Wd".

There are many "anti-pit and anti-second-hand material merchants" posts in Baidu Post Bar. Some familiar "material merchants" will add WeChat to each other and set up their own WeChat groups, in order to expand or stabilize their sources of "materials".

In the investigation, the reporter found that in order to be more concealed, the transactions between suppliers and buyers often shift from WeChat to other more private online trading platforms. The line operator "AXY" chose an overseas chat software called "Telegram" to complete the transaction with the customer. After failing to reach a transaction with the reporter, "AXY" immediately closed his QQ space.

How to deal with the chaos of electricity sales

In recent years, the phenomenon of electricity sales has been repeatedly concerned and rectified.

In 2019, the central bank issued document [2019] No.85 "Notice of the People’s Bank of China on Further Strengthening the Management of Payment and Settlement to Prevent New Crimes in Telecommunication Networks", pointing to the chaos of telephone sales of POS machines. At the same time, a number of payment institutions issued a notice on strictly prohibiting online sales and electronic sales of POS machines. However, the circle of friends of service provider He Zheng is still full of sales records of a large number of "POS machine" sales customers. When the reporter asked about the POS machine sales business, he did not show him any business license in the financial industry.

According to media reports, the sales scam of POS machines has already become a high-incidence area for complaints. Telephone sales mostly attract customers to use their products with "low rate and free delivery", but after the user places an order, there will be various charges including activation fee, deposit, service fee and so on. The reporter’s search on the Internet also found that many deceived users reported that they could not get the account after receiving the POS machine, and even were blacked out directly by the salesman.

In May this year, the Consumer Protection Bureau of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued Circular No.8 of 2021, "Circular on Cases of Ping An Bank’s Telemarketing of Physical Products Infringed on Consumers’ Legal Rights and Interests" (hereinafter referred to as "Circular"), which informed the case that Ping An Bank cooperated with a third party to sell physical products by telephone and infringed on consumers’ legal rights and interests.

According to the "Circular", in the spot check of 60 physical products sold by Ping An Bank Credit Card Center, 53 businesses were illegal, accounting for 88.33%.

Fu Liang, a telecom analyst, told The Paper that at present, the management of the domestic electricity sales industry has not yet formed a complete norm. "Many links have not been (completely) opened." If the management standards between relevant departments cannot be unified, there will be barriers to the management and rectification of the chaos of electricity sales. Even if users find their personal information leaked or traded, it is often difficult to find a "channel" for complaints and handling.

Fu Liang also pointed out that operators are the primary link to ensure that users’ information is not leaked. They often have their own strict operating norms, but they cannot completely avoid the possibility of leaks in huge business branches. Moreover, in this highly developed network era, many personal information is in a "semi-public" state.

He believes that in the use of various scenes in daily life, such as telephone numbers and names, information is constantly used and exchanged, and it is difficult to completely quantify whether it involves "privacy disclosure". "If there is an improper transaction of user information, no matter where it happens, it is an illegal act."