The reporter learned from the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau in Shanxi Province on the 24th that Taiyuan police have busted a "paid internet troll" gang involving more than 10 million yuan, arrested 8 criminal suspects, shut down 4 websites and platforms used by the "paid internet trolls" for their operations, 3 order-dispatching intermediaries, and 151 involved shops, with cumulative business volume reaching more than 1.75 million orders, and seized more than 300 electronic devices used in the crimes, including mobile phones and computers, involving Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi, Hunan and other places.

Taiyuan police busted a "paid internet troll" gang involving more than 10 million yuan. Photo courtesy of the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau

　　Carefully browsing a merchant's sales volume and positive reviews, one buys a product online with expectations, only to be greatly disappointed when it arrives. Is it simply bad luck, or are the expectations too high? Actually, neither: one may have encountered "paid internet trolls."

　　In March this year, the Cybersecurity Detachment of the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau discovered a lead during its work: a resident of Jinyuan District in Taiyuan, surnamed Fu, was providing paid data-boosting services for others such as forwarding, liking and commenting. Police arrested him on March 21.

The image shows tools seized by police used in the crimes. Photo courtesy of the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau

　　Investigation showed that starting in May 2023, Fu took orders online and carried out paid "forwarding, commenting and liking" business. To this end, he purchased more than 70 mobile phones and registered more than 200 social media accounts, specifically for paid liking and voting. By the time of the case, Fu had taken more than 10,000 orders and illegally profited more than 30,000 yuan.

　　The investigating officers found that behind Fu was a "paid internet troll" gang spread across multiple provinces and cities nationwide; he was merely one of the "clickers," hired to perform "forwarding, commenting and liking" for paying users. Given the seriousness of the case, the Cybersecurity Detachment of the Taiyuan Public Security Bureau and the Cybersecurity Brigade of the Jinyuan Branch set up a special task force to investigate.

　　Soon, Fu's superior surfaced. On March 27, the task force traveled to Inner Mongolia and arrested the superior, surnamed Li. Investigation showed that Li had more than a hundred "clickers" under him. After distributing voting and liking business to various WeChat groups, the "clickers" took the orders and Li took a cut. His business also came from a mysterious "superior" online.

　　Following the trail, the task force identified Li's "superiors," Xu and Li. After investigation, police found that the two had successively opened 151 shops on a certain e-commerce platform, specifically for recruiting business online. A small portion of the business recruited was allocated to Li, while most was allocated to a gang in Qiyang City, Hunan Province, headed by Zhou Moucheng.

　　Police immediately investigated Zhou Moucheng. Investigation showed that starting in 2022, Zhou Moucheng, for illegal profit, set up a "traffic, follower and review boosting" studio in a house in a residential community in Qiyang City, Hunan Province. By purchasing system programs and renting servers, he built and operated a website platform called "Mou Lu Fa," providing paid services such as liking, forwarding, voting and following for users of multiple domestic and overseas social software including a certain messaging app and a certain short-video app.

　　In August 2023, in order to expand profits, Zhou Moucheng recruited technical staff member Chen Mousheng and business staff members Chen Mouxin and Zhou Moukun at high salaries, and built and operated order-taking and order-processing platforms such as "Mou Yi Community," "Mou Yi Platform" and "Mou Yi Self-operated Station," taking on paid forwarding, commenting and liking business.

　　On April 10, Taiyuan police went to Hancheng, Shaanxi, and arrested Xu and Li; on April 20, they traveled to Hunan and arrested Zhou Moucheng and 3 others. Thus, this "paid internet troll" gang, which took orders online and engaged in paid traffic and review manipulation, was busted.

　　In recent years, with the development of internet shopping, the content of comments on specific information and products and the number of forwards, comments and likes have gradually become important indicators for the public to measure their recognition. Some enterprises and individuals, in pursuit of traffic indicators, purchase paid traffic-boosting and hype services from "paid internet trolls," breeding the chaos of traffic and review manipulation.

　　In this case, the gang, for the purpose of profit, carried out traffic and review manipulation such as forwarding, commenting and liking, which affected the objective evaluations of internet users or consumers and seriously disrupted market order. At present, the 8 criminal suspects have been subjected to criminal coercive measures by police in accordance with the law on suspicion of illegal business operations, and the case is being further investigated.