Ningyuan, He Yun, This Newspaper's Reporter, Ren Mingchao
The "Worldcom" riches myth that once made countless hearts flutter has been wiped out as "Worldcom" is being investigated by industrial and commercial departments across the country for suspected pyramid selling and its legal representative is wanted by public security departments.
On July 14, news spread online that Shi Yongbing (also known as Dai Bing), the person in charge of Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd., was under police investigation. When reporters arrived at the company's Hainan branch office located on Datong Road in Haikou to interview about this matter, they found it deserted.
"The Riches Myth" Turns Out To Be Illegal Pyramid Selling
Spending over 20,000 yuan to register as a "Worldcom" agent, all you have to do every day is click on advertisements on the corresponding software, earning a monthly income of 2,700 yuan. After continuously clicking for five years, you can easily earn 130,000 yuan... Such a riches myth would surely tempt anyone who hears it. Relying on such a riches myth, "Worldcom" quickly spread after entering Hainan at the end of last year, causing many people to fall victim to fraud and become deeply mired in illegal pyramid selling.
Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd. claims to be an international IT giant specializing in the research and development of mobile phone software and PC software. Established in January 2007, its headquarters is located in Hong Kong, jointly invested and created by a well-funded investment group from the United States and senior IT professional Mr. Dai Bing. It currently owns subsidiaries such as Hong Kong Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd. and Hainan Centurycom Network Information Technology Co., Ltd. The company's future development goal is to become a global leading IT enterprise.
According to our reporter's investigation, joining "Worldcom" requires purchasing five membership registration cards at once to become a "Worldcom" agent. Each card costs 999 yuan, and the total cost after discount is 4,496 yuan. With the card number and password, you log into the online advertising release system, earning 0.1 yuan for each advertisement viewed. Once the earnings accumulate to 100 yuan, the money will be transferred to the agent's digital account. An informed person, Mr. Zhou, said: "Each card number can only view 30 advertisements per day, investing in five cards results in earning only 450 yuan per month. Many people buy 30 cards at once, earning 2,700 yuan per month just by moving the mouse, and each card can be used for five years."
The most tempting part is that if an agent develops a next-generation agent, they can receive an 8% "market expansion award" from the card fees paid by the other party, and also a 3% "market opening award" from second to fourth generation agents. By this logic, agents can obtain a total of 26% "market opening awards" from first to tenth generation agents.
An informed person said that this method of calculating rewards based on recruiting new members clearly reveals its face as illegal pyramid selling.
According to "Worldcom," even without developing lower-level agents, one can still profit through clicking on advertisements. Watching advertisements to make money seems to have become "Worldcom's" excuse for defending itself. However, after investigation, reporters found that "earning money by clicking on advertisements" is actually one of "Worldcom's" tricks. If you are an agent investing in 200 software programs, you would need to receive 6,000 advertisements per day. Calculating an average of 7.5 seconds per advertisement, it would take 45,000 seconds, or 12.5 hours, to watch all these advertisements. A person would have to continuously click on the computer for 12.5 hours a day to complete the task, which obviously exceeds the normal load capacity of an ordinary person.
Hundreds of Thousands Have Been Deceived
All "Worldcom" franchisees know that the president is Dai Bing, whose real name is Shi Yongbing. This 39-year-old man from Jiangsu has an astonishingly fast rise to wealth, but there is very little available information about his rags-to-riches story.
According to relevant media reports, in late June, the Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province formally launched an investigation into the "Worldcom" pyramid selling case. On July 1, a large number of police officers were dispatched to Changchun, Shenzhen, Hainan, and other places, sealing bank accounts in the cities involved and preserving servers. The account of the Changchun branch of "Worldcom" set up at the Agricultural Bank was also frozen, with frozen funds reaching 250 million yuan, and the company ceased all business operations on the same day.
On July 6, news appeared online that Shi Yongbing had been listed as a B-level wanted suspect by the Ministry of Public Security. On July 8, a wanted notice downloaded from an internal website of the public security system appeared online.
The detailed content of the wanted notice is: The Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau of Jiangsu Province is investigating a pyramid selling crime case. Upon investigation, since January 2007, criminal suspects Shi Yongbing and others registered Hong Kong Worldcom Company in Hong Kong, using the pretext of promoting mobile wireless internet streaming media terminal service technology software systems, inviting others to join through the internet and other forms, developing members layer by layer, engaging in pyramid selling criminal activities, involving more than ten provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities including Guangdong, Hainan, Jiangsu, and Jilin. There are hundreds of thousands of franchise agents involved, with case amounts reaching tens of millions of yuan. The Zhenjiang Public Security Bureau has approved the criminal detention of Shi Yongbing.
Subsequently, netizens and agents who followed "Worldcom" discovered that the official website of "Worldcom" could not be accessed, and even the Baidu Tieba for "Worldcom" was closed, with a prompt message showing: "Sorry, according to relevant laws, regulations, and policies, this bar is temporarily closed."
Industrial and Commercial Departments in Hunan, Jilin, Guangxi, and other places also filed investigations into "Worldcom" suspected of illegal pyramid selling and issued relevant warnings through news media.
Government Departments Were Also Fooled by "Worldcom"
According to information obtained by reporters, "Worldcom" not only engaged in suspected illegal pyramid selling but also fabricated investment projects to deceive relevant government departments, thereby cloaking their deception in a veneer of legality.
According to media reports, on March 18, "Worldcom" officially held a project investment intention agreement signing ceremony and press conference in Haikou with Danzhou City in Hainan Province, determining to invest 200 million US dollars in Danzhou to establish a large-scale wireless streaming media software research and operation base for "Worldcom".
On April 30, "Worldcom" came to Changchun as an investor and registered "Worldcom Information Technology (Changchun) Co., Ltd." through the Shuangyang Branch of the Changchun Administration for Industry and Commerce, claiming to invest 130 million yuan in Shuangyang to build the "Worldcom" Digital Science and Technology Park, stating that "After the completion and production of this project, it can achieve sales revenue of over 10 billion yuan and tax revenue of over 500 million yuan, which is significant for accelerating economic construction in Shuangyang and driving economic development in Shuangyang."
On July 14, reporters called multiple departments including the Investment Promotion Bureau, Science and Technology Bureau, and Industry and Information Bureau of Danzhou City to verify that there has been no substantial progress on the "Worldcom" project in Danzhou since the signing of the intent agreement.
With the investigation of "Worldcom", these non-existent investment projects will forever remain on paper.
Hainan Company Vanishes Without A Trace
According to industrial and commercial records, the office of Hainan Centurycom Network Information Technology Co., Ltd. is located in Room 1208 of the Wealth Center Building on Datong Road in Haikou. On the morning of July 14, reporters went to Room 1208 and saw that the company's door was locked. Reporters pressed the doorbell for a long time, but no one appeared.
According to property management personnel at the Wealth Center Building, employees of Centurycom Company were still working normally a week ago, but in the past week, only a few people were seen carrying the main computers from the office a few days ago. However, the property management staff stated that they did not know if these people were employees of Centurycom Company.
Property management personnel also said that before July, the company's various fees were paid on time, but after July, the company's staff gradually stopped coming to work, and neither rent nor property management fees were paid. "I also contacted the personnel of Centurycom Company, but they said the company currently has some issues and will pay the fees after resolving them," said the property management staff.
To further understand the situation, after leaving the Wealth Center Building, reporters successively dialed the mobile phones of Dai Bing, the person in charge of Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd., Wang Xiao, the brand planning director of Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd., and Qiang Kexin, the general manager of Hainan Centurycom Network Information Technology Co., Ltd., but all were turned off. This once prosperous Worldcom International Technology Co., Ltd. seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the face of the earth, impossible to find.
According to relevant officials from the Fair Trade and Consumer Protection Department of the Hainan Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, the industrial and commercial department has received numerous complaints and reports regarding "Worldcom" and is conducting an investigation. However, due to unclear illegal facts, they cannot disclose more details to reporters.
Subsequently, reporters also called relevant departments of the Haikou Public Security Bureau to understand the situation, but were told that no related situation reports had been received yet.