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    §8 · 15 tips

    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Who owns the bride price, a home bought before marriage, and large transfers made while dating? What is the first step if someone reports you or makes up facts about you? How much does coming forward on your own reduce a sentence, and can you pursue or claim damages afterward?

    Tips from this section that apply in the United States. This section describes legal rules, mostly mainland China’s. It is general information, not legal advice; for your own case, talk to a lawyer.

    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Remember the hard rules against fraud: don't trust incoming calls, don't give out information, don't click links, double-check before any transfer; the seven most common scams all have this shape

    If anyone asks you to transfer money, share your screen, download an unfamiliar app, click a link or read out a verification code, hang up first, then call back on an official number to check. The seven most common types are fake order-boosting for rebates (刷单返利), fake investment and wealth products, online loan scams, impersonated customer service, impersonated police, prosecutors and courts, "pig-butchering" romance scams (杀猪盘) and seduction-bait fake-task scams (色诱刷单). All of them want you to send money first. Recognizing them beforehand is much cheaper than chasing the money afterward.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Don't treat a face on video or a voice on the phone as verification; hang up before any transfer and call back on an old number from your own contacts

    Seeing a face and hearing a voice do not count as verification. Whenever a transfer is involved, hang up first, then call back on an old number saved in your own contacts, or ask someone you both know. If the other person says "the signal is bad" or "I'm in a meeting" and won't video-call face to face, treat it as a scam.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Don't touch the steering wheel after drinking, including electric bikes and "just moving the car", and don't lend your car to anyone who has been drinking or has no license

    Driving after drinking costs you a 6-month license suspension and a fine of 1,000 to 2,000 CNY. A repeat offense brings detention (拘留) and license revocation. Drunken driving (醉驾) means immediate revocation, no retaking the test for 5 years, and criminal liability for the crime of dangerous driving (危险驾驶罪). If you have an accident after drinking, commercial car insurance pays nothing. If you lend your car to someone you know has been drinking or has no license, you will also have to pay part of the damages if there is an accident.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Call the police and don't use your hands when a conflict starts; the one who strikes first makes it easy for the other side's hitting back to count as justified self-defense (正当防卫)

    Hitting someone brings detention of 5 to 10 days (拘留) and a fine of 500 to 1,000 CNY. Hitting in a group, hitting an elderly person, a pregnant woman, a child or a disabled person, or hitting people repeatedly brings detention of 10 to 15 days and a fine of 1,000 to 2,000 CNY. Causing a minor injury (轻伤) is a criminal case with a sentence of up to 3 years, and a serious injury (重伤) 3 to 10 years. When two people hit each other, neither side counts as acting in justified self-defense (正当防卫), so step back and call the police first.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Treat thoughts like "take someone down with me" or "die together" as an emergency: leave the scene, hand your car keys and knife to someone else, and call 12356

    The window from the moment such a thought appears to acting on it is short. Of 82 people who survived a suicide attempt, 47.6% said that no more than 10 minutes passed between the first thought and the act. So what you need to do is not "think it through," but put one step of distance between yourself and the steering wheel, the knife, the gas valve and the rope, and get through those ten minutes. Then call 12356 (China's national mental-health hotline).

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Don't curse, spread rumors or forward unchecked claims online; if you are cyberbullied, keep evidence first, then call the police

    Publicly cursing someone or spreading defamatory rumors brings detention of up to 5 days (拘留), or a fine of up to 1,000 CNY, and detention of 5 to 10 days in more serious cases. In serious cases it is the crime of insult (侮辱罪) or defamation (诽谤罪), with a sentence of up to 3 years. The other way around, when you are the one being cyberbullied, insult and defamation in principle require you to sue in court yourself, so screenshots, screen recordings and saved links are on you.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Read the whole paper before you sign, don't sign for others, and don't sign a blank page

    Once you sign, it counts. A fingerprint counts the same as a signature. "I didn't read it carefully" or "I thought it was something else" will mostly not hold up in court. So take a few extra minutes to read from start to finish, ask on the spot about anything you don't understand, and take a photo for your records. Don't sign for anyone else, don't sign a blank page, and write the purpose on any copy of your ID card.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Write a clear IOU when you lend money, and before you guarantee someone else's debt, think about whether you are willing to pay it for him

    An IOU should be complete: lender, borrower, amount, interest rate, term, way of repayment, with both signatures. Send the money by transfer, not cash, and a complete IOU is easier to sue on. When you guarantee someone's debt, check whether the word "joint" (连带) appears. With an ordinary guarantee (一般保证), you come in only after the creditor has sued the borrower and could not collect. With a joint-and-several liability guarantee (连带责任保证), the creditor can come straight to you for the money.

    • Top value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    If you are cheated in online shopping or a secondhand deal, complain to the platform first, then call the police, then work out whether a lawsuit is worth it

    Start with the platform. Platforms have deposits and penalty rules, and handle things fastest. Then call the police: being cheated of 3,000 to 10,000 (1万) CNY or more is enough for the crime of fraud (诈骗罪), and the standard differs by province; below it, the case is handled as a public security punishment. If you want to go to court, an online shopping dispute can be filed in the court where you received the goods, and a small amount goes through the small-claims procedure (小额诉讼), which finishes within 2 months and can be filed online.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Ask the price before home repair, vehicle inspection or renovation work begins, and watch the work from beside the worker

    Home appliance repairers must state their charges clearly, give a repair record and an invoice, must not report faults that don't exist, and must not deliberately replace parts that work normally; in serious cases the fine is up to 30,000 (3万) CNY. All businesses must display clear prices and may not charge extra beyond the marked price. So ask the price and which parts will be replaced before the work starts, get the record and invoice afterward, and keep the old parts. If you were overcharged, call 12315 first (the market-regulation and consumer complaint hotline).

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Don't carry things for strangers across borders, and don't receive packages of unknown origin

    The advice from the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (外交部领事司) to citizens traveling abroad is: don't carry luggage or items for other people, especially contraband or things you don't know about. Every country bans drugs from entering. If the luggage is in your hands, you are the one who has to answer questions and make declarations at customs. Receiving packages for others within China is the same, especially when you are asked to pay first and be refunded later.

    • Top value
    • Evidence B
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Don't have sex with someone who is drunk to the point of being unaware, asleep, or who may be under 14

    A person who is drunk to the point of being unaware, or asleep, has no ability to consent, and sex with them is legally rape too, with a basic sentence of 3 to 10 years. A reliable approach is not to have sex, and when a drinking party breaks up, hand the person over to their own friends or family. For how age is determined, see §9.18 (under 14).

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Keeps you free
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    When something happens at the scene, shoot the whole scene first, then the positions, and last the damage and injuries; don't delete the original photos and videos

    If you shoot only a close-up of a scratch on a car or an object on the ground, a few days later no one knows where it was. First shoot a wide view that takes in the intersection, the house number, the cars, the people and the surroundings, then shoot how things sit relative to each other, and the details last. If you have to move something or a vehicle, shoot first whenever you can. Keep the original photos and videos on your phone, and don't keep only a copy that has passed through a chat app.

    • High value
    • Evidence C
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Refuse when an acquaintance asks you to "scan your face and be a witness" to take out a loan, or asks you to read out a verification code: this is called an AB loan (AB贷), and the borrower is you, not a guarantor

    What is called "help by scanning your face and being a witness" is in fact borrowing money from a bank in your name. The borrower is you, not a guarantor, and once the money goes to the acquaintance, the bank still comes to you for repayment. The intermediary deceived you, but as long as the bank did not know, you cannot cancel this loan contract. A written promise from the acquaintance saying "I'll repay it" does not bind the bank.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    Don't get dragged down: law and property

    Fit good locks on doors and windows, put a motion-sensor light outside the door, and really lock up when you go out: these are what prevent burglary, and an alarm alone shows no benefit

    Data from Britain show that homes with door locks plus window locks had only one-twelfth the chance of someone getting in and stealing, compared with homes with nothing installed. Adding a motion-sensor light outside the door brings it down to about one-thirtieth (三十多分之一). Installing only an alarm and nothing else shows no evidence of preventing burglary. This covers theft, not robbery when someone is at home.

    • Moderate value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    • Disputed