Ever since I started to interact with people from overseas, I have heard a lot of different stories or interesting experiences from my customers , or foreign friends who have lived in China before. Including some scams they have encountered. I collected the following list for people to avoid possible frauds when they travel to China.
Scam 1 : Fake Money
When my client from United states first travel to China, he encountered a fake money scam. He said it happened in a blink of an eye. After the driver took him to the destination. My client took the money from wallet, and paid the driver. But the driver said it was fake money (100RMB), asked my client to change it. So my client had no choice, went through his wallet again to get another 100RMB currency. Such action went back and forth for few times, finally he was able to get out of the car.
7 major scam in china – fake money scam
Later when he told me about this story, he realized that was a scam. The trick was that every time when my client went to get another 100RMB from his wallet, that driver would immediately change that real money to a fake one.
So our suggestion is better to use small currencies when you take a taxi alone, and don’t believe them 100% when they tell you that your money is fake, especially you know for certain that your money was exchanged in the bank. Or if you use Wechat.com you can put some money inside Wechat , and you can pay almost everything with Wechat in China.
Scam 2 : Taxi driver suddenly raises prices
Some Chinese drivers, especially when they see you are a foreigner, they might want to take advantage of it . And try to get more money from your pocket, so they would use some tricks, such as not playing the watch on purpose. And at the destination charge you much more than you should pay. Or they would deliberately take a few more turns, so they could work more. Or simply , there are even people that just use the rough way to ask you pay them more “tips”. Otherwise they wouldn’t let you get out of the car.
Taxi driver suddenly raises prices
One time, my Canadian customer was trying to catch a flight urgently in Shanghai, but “Thanks” to the driver who took him from hotel to Airport, made a mistake by misguiding my customer to the wrong Terminal. As Shanghai airport is really big, and each Terminal was far away from another, so my customer was desperate to get help from the guard at the Gate area.
Luckily the guard helped my customer get a private car, my customer didn’t expect it would be free. But at least not crazily overcharge him , so he didn’t even ask about the price. After the driver drove a bit, he started to ask for at least 150RMB for just few minutes Otherwise he would not let my customer to get off.
It was typical when people see you are in a hurry, especially when you are not from local . They would try ways to get as much as possible just for that once time lucky chance they got from you.
Scam 3 : Scam from “beggars”
This kind of trick is probably very common in all around the world, but still need to be alert when you happen to encounter such situation personally.
When you are in the airport or train station, sometimes you would see people who look like deaf or dumb, coming to you to donate them money, but actually they belong to a scamming group, disguising as disabled people to obtain sympathy and avoid communication.
7 major scams to avoid : beggars
There is another type that work as beggar “professionally”, their”job” is begging for money and they constantly change different locations to beggar, but behind the scene, they might be even richer than you. This kind of beggars are usually shown up close by the metro stations or where have the biggest crowds.
Also be careful when you are walking in the street, and some monk-dressed people would come forward to give you a bunch of beads, saying that this is free for you. But when you do really take it and leave, they would call you back and ask you to give them money. When you do encounter such people in the street, I suggest you to stay away from them as far as possible.
But one of those most typical beggars is they show no respect at all, they rush up to you directly and ask for money, as if you own them something and they are asking you to give the money back angrily.
Scam 4 : Tea house, Art Gallery Scam
Tea house, Art Gallery Scam
In some scenic spots full of Chinese ancient customs, do NOT trust some very “friendly” people. These people will tell you something which is irrelevant. After building trust, they will invite you to participate in the tea party of his friends or family. Or look at some traditional Chinese art exhibitions. If you go to the tea house. The person will disappear after the tea is ordered, and then you have to pay a high price for the tea. If it is an art gallery, it is actually full of counterfeit and the tickets are quite expensive.
Scam 5 : The Bargaining Trick
We bargain a lot in China, especially in those small shops that sell souvenirs or clothing. But since a lot of people are used to bargaining. So those shop owners tend to call a super high price at the beginning. And if you don’t know the tricks over here, you would end up being ripped off a lot. It might cost you few times more than you are supposed to pay.
The Bargainin Trick
Ask a Chinese friend in advance before you go to the local market for shopping, see if the market is open for bargaining, if the answer yes, then at least you would save a lot from being overcharged.
Scam 6 : “Big Order” Scam
I have mentioned this story in another of my article in the blog, which happened to my European customer who was trying to get his factory facility sold to China.
“The Big Order”
The Chinese company invited him to come to China to sign a contract of this “big order”. The strange part is that this company didn’t even ask for any other details. They just made a quick decision to “buy” their products with such big amount. This was not normal in any sort of business deals. Imagine you are a buyer. What info and research you would need before you decide to sign a contract with a supplier?
Better make full investigation of the company before you get trapped into any fraud.
Scam 7 : Random “Greetings” from beauties
When you are in a new country, you might be craving to make new friends. And get excited if someone reaches you initially to make a conversation. You might not get any suspicious . Because you think you are a foreigners in this country and they might be curious about you and your culture.
Be aware of random “Greetings” from beauties
But be aware of this kind of people that try to invite you for a meal or drink after the first friendly conversation. What could happen is that after you guys finish the drink or meal, you might end up paying a big amount of bill.
That person who just took you there is usually playing such trick to get commission from that restaurant. But of course, they do not only do this to foreigners, but also local people. But sometimes foreigners would be “easier” for them to reach out.
Final word
Of course there are much more other scams , nowadays those tricks are even getting more and more “advanced”. But Above are those typical scams which you should especially be aware of.
if you have been in China for many times, also have encountered any other type of scam. You are welcome to share your story with us.
