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There are many ways to start a business and make money on the Chinese super app WeChat. But some users have found a very simple way to make some fast cash without any skills at all: let others pay to use their WeChat accounts.
With WeChat central to so many people's lives, though, some people end up losing more than they gain.
For some people, the monetary rewards can be quite enticing. You may also like: Launch car diagnostic. Scammers and internet marketers offer as much as 1,000 yuan (US$143) a day to rent WeChat accounts, according to a recent report from the state-run media outlet Xinhua. Two vocational school students in Henan surnamed Li and Bi, for instance, started renting out their own WeChat accounts at 80 yuan (US$11.45) a day last October. At the same time, they were also renting out accounts belonging to friends and classmates, which they offered for 50 yuan (US$7.16) a day.
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The two students pocketed the difference and wound up making 10,000 yuan (US$1,431) in just a few months, Xinhua reported. Eventually, though, police took "criminal compulsory measures" against them. These measures could include arrest, detention, summons, bail pending trial or residential surveillance, according to China's Criminal Law.
The scammers who rented the accounts from the two students used them to join part-time job group chats and post loan scams, according to police. They also reportedly promised to only use the accounts on desktop computers so the owners could keep using them - WeChat accounts can only be logged into one mobile device at a time.
So what did the two students do wrong? State media called the users accomplices to fraud.
In an article in May, the WeChat Security Centre said the company has been cracking down on this behaviour to prevent users from "falling into the trap" of becoming accomplices to criminal activities. When asked about this user behaviour, WeChat owner Tencent directed us to the same article, which also states that the WeChat user agreement bans the renting or sale of accounts.
The practice of renting out social media accounts isn't unique to WeChat. It's not even unique to China. There's also a "rental economy" for Facebook accounts, according to a report from BuzzFeed News. This allows marketers banned from advertising on Facebook to use rented accounts for creating new pages and running ads.
But on Facebook, the risks of users renting out their accounts might just involve a person's privacy and digital security. WeChat users are often more invested in their accounts. WeChat Pay is one of the country's two main mobile payment apps, so users renting out their accounts might wind up involved in bigger schemes.
After getting access to a user's account, some scammers try to borrow money from the person's WeChat contacts or apply for loans through WeChat Pay, according to the WeChat Security article. It also says that some criminals have used rented WeChat accounts to launder money.
Scammers and marketers used to rely on a large number of bot accounts, WeChat says, adding that this has become more difficult since the company boosted clampdown measures. So the solution now is simply stealing real identities.
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Every end is a new beginning, they say. Well, that might not be always true but in this case, it describes perfectly what happened to this poor 2020 Chevrolet Corvette C8. But, no sympathy is needed here - it's probably for the better.
Here's the story. AD: Launch code reader. YouTube star Emelia Hartford has been actively working on her Corvette C8 in an attempt to build one of the most powerful twin-turbo C8s and a truly capable drag beast. Probably she went too far with her team with the turbochargers boost as the LT2 engine of the supercar simply didn't survive.
In one of her latest videos (at the top), she takes the car for a ride but the engine quickly changes its sound and throttle response. When she's back to the garage, her team discovers something's wrong with one of the pistons. The whole story goes from "let's see how far we can push that engine" to "let's see how we can rebuild that engine."
The latest video of the series (below) takes us to the disassembling of the V8 engine. The team takes the mill off the car and also removes the heads in search of the broken piston. Surprise - all pistons look good but there is still a knocking noise coming from the engine.
Further investigations make it clear that the problem is even deeper. It turns out the whole problem comes from bent rods and that's not really a surprise as it's something we've seen with the LT2 engines when pushed too much.
So, what's next? We don't know yet but Emelia and her team are going to rebuild the engine. Whether they will go for a stock rebuild or will replace the internals with aftermarket components, we will probably learn in the next episode.

The Ford GT is America's only Le Mans-winning supercar, and taking this pinnacle of Ford Performance even further for 2021, Ford is revealing two new enhancements today – the first-ever Heritage Edition inspired by the original model's first endurance win at the 1966 Daytona 24 Hour Continental race, plus an all-new Studio Collection package offers even more exclusivity and design enhancements.
"For this Heritage Edition, the Ford Performance team went deeper into the Ford GT's race history and crafted a limited-edition model that stylistically honors the 55th anniversary of the Daytona 24 Hour endurance race that would eventually lead to our successes at Le Mans," said Mike Severson, Ford GT program manager. "Plus, for customers who want to highlight the carbon-fiber body and functional cooling ducts that help deliver Le Mans-winning performance, the Ford GT Studio Collection offers another new way GT fans can personalize their supercars."
The announcement of two new variants of the Ford GT were the highlights at the conclusion of 2020 Petersen Car Week, which started airing Wednesday on the museum's YouTube channel. AD: Topdon obd2 scanner. The virtual event featured 25 hours of original content from manufacturers and enthusiasts, along with automotive lifestyle and auction house activities.
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