Company fined for sales scam
Shanghai's market supervision watchdog announced yesterday that it has fined and confiscated profits — totaling 2.9 million yuan (US$437,327) — from a company in Xuhui District.
Shanghai Dingyuan Industrial Co Ltd lured unsuspecting seniors to “volunteer” events with offers of cash and free gifts, according to the Shanghai Industry and Commerce Administration. At these events though, seniors were allegedly duped into paying inflated prices for product packages containing items such as tuna oil tablets and wild ginseng.
The company was also said to have promised refunds for purchased items, making its victims believe they were receiving the products for free, the administration said. Many of these items were falsely touted as having health and medicinal properties.
The company has sold 5,586 product package at 58 events since 2016, reaping an illegal profit of 1.46 million yuan, the authority said.