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    Scammed, or suspect a scam

    If you were cheated in online shopping or a secondhand deal, complain to the platform first. If you are being pressured for money or threatened, or you want to learn to spot scams, the tips below cover that, including protecting older relatives and children.

    1 Money already sent

    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

    2 Being pressured for money or threatened

    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

    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

    3 Learning to spot scams first

    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 waste your money

    Walk away when you see "high returns," "principal guaranteed" or "sure profit"

    In 2018 the then chairman of the former China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (银保监会) said: a return above 6% should raise questions, above 8% is very dangerous, and at 10% or more you should be prepared to lose your entire principal. Legitimate wealth products are no longer allowed to promise a guaranteed principal or return. Money lost in illegal fundraising is, by regulation, borne by you, and no one steps in to cover it when things go wrong.

    • Top value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    Going abroad, travel and safety overseas

    Treat any "high-paying job abroad" as a scam: people lured into running telecom fraud are also restricted from leaving China after they return

    A monthly salary that is absurdly high, no questions about education or experience, no proper contract, a demand that you first gather in a border city, and someone holding your passport for you. If you take a job like this, neither you nor your passport is in your own hands. If documents are faked when you exit, border inspection will stop you and not let you through. If you took part in illegal activity abroad, you may also be barred from leaving China for 6 months to 3 years after you return.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Keeps you free
    How to get by when you have no money

    Don't pay a deposit, don't hand over your ID, don't sign a “training loan” (培训贷), don't join a pyramid scheme (传销), don't borrow at loan-shark rates

    An employer cannot hold your ID card, collect a deposit, or collect money under any other name. If an agency did not get you a job, it must refund its fee. Training loans (培训贷), where you pay for training before you can start work, and pyramid schemes (传销), where payment depends on recruiting people, are both scams the authorities have named. For interest above 4 times the one-year LPR (loan prime rate), a court will not support the part above that, but you still repay the principal.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money

    4 Older relatives and children at home

    When there are elderly people at home

    Give an older person a ready line for turning things down: "I have to go home and talk it over with my family"

    Sales pitches and scams depend on pressure in the moment, to make you pay before you have time to think. When people get excited, they believe exaggerated ads more easily, and older people are more easily persuaded than younger ones. Agree on a line with the older person beforehand: "I have to go home and talk it over with my family." They can say it at any time, it gives them a way out on the spot, and they can decide after calming down at home.

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    • For: Elderly relative at home, Age 60+
    When there are elderly people at home

    Stay away from any "invest for your retirement" scheme that asks an older person to pay first: cards, beds, retirement apartments, travel-retirement and senior products are all the same illegal fund-raising

    Eldercare schemes that ask the older person to pay first and promise a return are all the same fraud: cards, buying beds, buying retirement apartments, travel-retirement, and meetings selling senior products. Under the rules, money lost this way is yours to bear. In one case someone took 136,000,000 yuan (1.36亿) by supposedly reserving beds in a retirement apartment, and harmed more than 2,100 people.

    • High value
    • Evidence A
    • Saves money
    • For: Elderly relative at home, Age 60+
    Don't waste your money

    Teach your child one sentence: anyone who tells you to use a parent's phone or read out a verification code is a scammer

    The 6 types of scams use different tricks, but the last step is always the same: getting the child to use a parent's phone to transfer money or read out a verification code. So one sentence is enough to teach: whoever tells you to touch a parent's phone or give out a verification code is a scammer. Add one more: "If you get scammed, tell me first, and I won't scold you."

    • High value
    • Evidence B
    • Saves money
    • For: Child aged 3–18

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