Deliverymen save youth trapped in pyramid scheme

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After discovering an SOS message in a delivery order, a group of takeout deliverymen carried out a rescue mission to save two young people reportedly trapped in a pyramid scheme in central China's Wuhan city in Hubei Province.

Last Friday night, a deliveryman surnamed Qin received an unusual food order via China's major delivery service app Meituan, local paper Chutian City News reported.

"No need to deliver food. Just call the police for me," said an alarming message accompanying a customer order. "I am trapped in a pyramid scheme."

A deliveryman surnamed Qin showed the SOS message from the order. /Photo via Chutian City News

As Qin was a rookie on the platform, he had limited access and so couldn't directly contact the customer to confirm the distress call. Instead, he asked a group of colleagues for help by sending them the message.

While some of them warned Qin that it could be a prank, others decided to step in. One deliveryman surnamed Bo immediately called the police and reported the case. A few others followed suit.

Bo was in the middle of a delivery assignment when he saw Qin's message. Worried about the customer's safety, he steered away from his original destination and rushed to the address provided in the order.

Meituan's deliveryman surnamed Bo called the police after seeing the SOS message. /Photo via Chutian City News

By the time he reached the location, local police had already arrived. A man and a woman in their twenties were subsequently rescued.

After seeing Bo in his deliveryman uniform, the two thanked him for saving their lives.

According to the police, the two moved to the city a week ago after hearing about promising job opportunities and were arranged to stay in a shared apartment. After a few days living with their roommates, however, the two began to realize they might have been tricked into joining a pyramid scheme.

In China, a pyramid scheme not only involves brainwashing and swindling the inductees into selling goods and services through participants rather than to customers, but also limits their freedom and restricts them from contacting the outside world.

Trapped in the apartment, they had been too afraid to call the police themselves, so they ended up turning to the delivery platform for help.

Authorities are currently investigating the incident.

(Top image: Deliverymen in Meituan's uniform. /VCG Photo)