Brazil cracks down on claw machines and combats plush toy scams

Recently, the police in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil have launched a large-scale crackdown on claw machines known as "plush toy scams" in the media.

On August 28, the Rio police issued 16 search warrants. The police pointed out that claw machines, like slot machines, are games of chance and are therefore judged illegal. These claw machines not only contain pirated plush toys, but players usually need to try many times before winning. And the occasional successful grab is achieved by applying an electric current to the originally weak "claw" to increase the gripping force. Some players have also noticed that the "claw" of claw machines has obviously weakened recently.

Brazilian media "g1.globo" reported that the police found in their investigations that the programs of claw machines had been tampered with by criminal gangs. This is clearly a fraudulent process of deceiving consumers. In addition to the machines and plush toys, the police also seized many mobile phones, computers and documents to uncover the organizational structure of criminal gangs and find out the participation of other members and related criminal organizations. The investigation is still ongoing to determine whether there is money laundering and other financial crimes.

It is reported that this week's search operation is the second crackdown launched by the police. As early as May, the police had seized 80 claw machines and detained nearly 13,000 plush toys. These toys were originally to be destroyed, but at the request of state legislators, they were finally donated to children who lost their homes in the floods in Rio Grande do Sul.

This crackdown on claw machines by the Brazilian police shows its determination to combat illegal activities and protect consumer rights. It has also attracted widespread attention from all sectors of society. People are looking forward to effectively regulating the market order through this crackdown and preventing similar "plush toy scams" from happening again.