Look from the type, the current network marketing mainly includes three types:

One is the "online version" of traditional pyramid selling, which uses the Internet to promote physical products. The products of pyramid selling are not limited to cosmetics, medicines and other physical products, but also include computer software and various information, so as to develop offline. But this model is too blatant and has begun to fade away.

The other is the so-called "online earning", which relies on the development of offline members to increase the click rate of advertisements and give commission returns, and gains points through online browsing of paid advertisements, from single click advertisements to click advertisements, send and receive emails, and register online. Most of this online registration is free. At present, this form has extended to the campus, and students have become a huge group.

The third model, which we have found most at present, is the so-called multi-level information network marketing (mlm) model. A few days ago, this online marketing model had its own carrier-website.

For example, a network marketing website interface provides several publicity platforms, namely, enterprise planning, personal finance, distance education, training, sellers, publicity services, information services, 60mb space and management control center. You can apply for a user name by paying 65438 yuan +0.300 yuan, and you can use the nine platforms provided by the website for five years. Moreover, after successfully joining the website, you can get the qualification to recommend and develop others to join the website, and you can get points according to the number of people who successfully join the website. The specific rules are as follows: member development offline includes left and right consumption areas. It is necessary to develop left and right branches, and the number of left and right branches is valid within the range of 1: 2 or 2: 1 (the sum of both sides is equal to 3, which is called a group). After developing the first group, you can accumulate 6 points and get a bonus 600 yuan accordingly; Develop 2- 10 groups, and each group can get a bonus 450 yuan; Develop 1 1- 100 groups, and each group can get a bonus 350 yuan; After the development to the100th group, each group can get a bonus 300 yuan, and the maximum weekly bonus for each member is 35,000 yuan. By analogy, offline members will be developed according to a certain proportion.

In this case, pulling people's heads replaces the traditional way of selling goods, but the essence is still that the following line pays the entrance fee to pay the bonus on the line, which is a typical pyramid pyramid pyramid marketing.

Characteristics of network pyramid selling

1, more virtual

The Internet will always be a virtual space. Illegal pyramid sellers use the virtual characteristics of the Internet to cover their eyes and ears, engage in karate, and do nothing in the name of "e-commerce", "fund operation", "venture capital", "new energy development", "foreign exchange trading" and "gold futures trading". In most cases of online pyramid schemes, the members who invest money only get a virtual cyberspace (so-called e-commerce package, just renting the server space of the company), which has developed from the traditional physical products of pyramid schemes to purely for the purpose of developing members to pay membership fees and get bonuses. Some payment methods are online payment, which is completely "e-commerce".

2, more deceptive

Using the website as a pyramid scheme platform is more deceptive and hidden than traditional pyramid schemes. Most of these MLM websites are attractive under the banner of "distance education", "training individual entrepreneurs", "e-commerce" and "new energy development", which covers up the profit-making nature of developing members (offline). Taking Beijing Ouya Yewei MLM as an example, the collected data show that Beijing Ouya Ye Wei International Co., Ltd. develops MLM with the help of high technology under the guise of developing its own e-commerce and promoting the development of information industry. The company's website lists business planning, personal finance, distance education, training, traders, publicity services, information services, 60mb space, management control center and other sections, which are very tempting and deceptive from wording to slogan. Many offline personnel have no judgment ability and mistakenly think that this is an e-commerce. After being arrested, they repeatedly stressed that they were not involved in pyramid schemes but in new consumption.

Some MLM organizations are under the banner of "education". On the surface of their website, there are various tutorials from kindergarten to university. In fact, members will stop talking about education and training when they buy it, which is simply soliciting customers to raise funds illegally.

3. Strong concealment

Compared with traditional pyramid schemes, online pyramid schemes are more subtle. Membership development is carried out on the Internet. Members can only join MLM through the website. The user names they use are pseudonyms or codes, and they all have their own login passwords. The contact between them is mainly done by email or instant messaging tool (icq). Moreover, the website also requires all remittances to be bank transfers, avoiding the need to meet offline and online in traditional pyramid schemes. The manipulator changed from bright to dark, hiding behind the scenes. Wan Yixian was seized by law enforcement agencies, and online can also escape immediately. Because the offline development of members is only reflected in the Internet, members keep a single line of contact in pyramid schemes, and the industrial and commercial departments can't verify the true information of the company's website and the true identity of members when investigating, and it is almost impossible to trace online only by online information.

4. Cross-regional communication

Internet communication is cross-regional, which makes MLM break through the restrictions of regions and national boundaries, even in a country, it is everywhere. However, due to the limitation of territorial jurisdiction, local industrial and commercial departments can only supervise pyramid schemes in their respective jurisdictions and cannot cut off nationwide pyramid schemes from the source. The backbone of pyramid schemes often "change one place with one shot" and commit crimes all over the country. We can only catch local leaders and "keep one party safe", but we can't do anything to destroy the whole pyramid scheme, but we can treat the symptoms rather than the root cause. At the same time, it is also difficult to investigate and collect evidence. As for transnational network marketing, because the website is registered abroad and there is no industrial and commercial registration agency in China, it faces the problems of legal application and international jurisdiction. Moreover, it is difficult to strike effectively by the strength of one country alone, which requires the full cooperation of the international community. However, at present, countries have different views on pyramid schemes, and it is extremely difficult to achieve the consistency of legal standards.

5. The "grey zone" of departmental supervision

There are so many online resources that it is difficult for the industrial and commercial departments to find clues of illegal pyramid schemes in hundreds of millions of information. What's more, the MLM website can only be logged in by registered users, and ordinary users can't browse its content, and the website management is not within the scope of industrial and commercial supervision. Therefore, the industrial and commercial departments can not actively supervise suspicious websites according to their functions and powers, but can only crack down when pyramid schemes are discovered or reported in the real world, and there are few channels to obtain case information, which leads to the industrial and commercial departments being extremely passive in investigating online pyramid schemes.

To sum up, the combination of pyramid selling and the Internet has produced many characteristics different from the traditional legal norms, but the current legislation does not clearly define online pyramid selling, nor does it give the industrial and commercial departments an effective means to investigate and deal with it. At present, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce are drafting a direct selling law, the core of which is to distinguish direct selling from various forms of pyramid schemes. We hope that in this law, we can clearly define online pyramid selling and give the industrial and commercial departments the corresponding law enforcement authority, aiming at effectively cracking down on online fraud and maintaining the security and order of the network.