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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: How to expose a scam chinese company?
My uncle asked me to check whether the Chinese company which contacted him and wanted to offer him a contract is trustworthy. I have checked their domain ip and address which was created in October last year and expires this October. Their ip address was different from the place where they have an office and website looks quite unprofessional.
Can someone tell me how to expose a scammer?
7 years 50 weeks ago in Business & Jobs - China
The key is to make a post that really tells a story. Which takes in the reader, grabs him by the throat and grinds him down.
Why should any of us care about any of the characters in your story? What is your uncle's motivation?
"My uncle was a hard man...a stern man who had spent his entire life trying to scratch out a meager living from the thin, stony soil which was all he had to his name. Not a man for games. He looked up from his pumpkin patch and demanded of me in a loud voice 'check whether the Chinese company which contacted me and wanted to offer me a contract is trustworthy!'
Shaken, I had no choice but to follow his instructions..."
See? Now the reader is interested to see what happens next. Your post was boring, that's why no one cares if it is a scam or not.
aang:
This post is not a novel. I faced a problem and I tried my best to explain it with every detail I could include. I want to know how people identify scam company, not comments about how interesting my story is.
expatlife26:
Hey maybe you are still living back in Bobby's World where everything is all gravy but for those of us who aren't too naive to live in reality we can tell you that a compelling story makes all the difference in whether you get the attention you deserve.
I guarantee you if you wrote your post with the right kind of imagery and careful composition and human drama you would get a million views and tons of support.
First up, It's up to your uncle to offer a contract if he is the purchaser.
Second, IP addresses mean nothing in China, as VPNs are very common.
Three. Very few companies in China have decent websites.
Four. What is your uncle buying?
Five, Not enough info to answer the question
Give more info and you might get a decent answer. There is a lot of experienced people post here. I am not one. But I will give a pointless answer to punt your question onto the main board
It seems you made up this story in haste, go back and start over
expatlife26:
I agree this story isn't compelling whatsoever. Needs further revision
aang:
I wanna hear how people deal with it and not reading my story. I wrote a bit just to make a little understanding of a situation.
expatlife26:
well that's your problem Aang, you are too naive about the real world.
People need a hook, a reason to get interested in your story. You need to make your uncle someone that people can relate to
You should give us the link to the website and the name of the company. That would be a good start.
The key is to make a post that really tells a story. Which takes in the reader, grabs him by the throat and grinds him down.
Why should any of us care about any of the characters in your story? What is your uncle's motivation?
"My uncle was a hard man...a stern man who had spent his entire life trying to scratch out a meager living from the thin, stony soil which was all he had to his name. Not a man for games. He looked up from his pumpkin patch and demanded of me in a loud voice 'check whether the Chinese company which contacted me and wanted to offer me a contract is trustworthy!'
Shaken, I had no choice but to follow his instructions..."
See? Now the reader is interested to see what happens next. Your post was boring, that's why no one cares if it is a scam or not.
aang:
This post is not a novel. I faced a problem and I tried my best to explain it with every detail I could include. I want to know how people identify scam company, not comments about how interesting my story is.
expatlife26:
Hey maybe you are still living back in Bobby's World where everything is all gravy but for those of us who aren't too naive to live in reality we can tell you that a compelling story makes all the difference in whether you get the attention you deserve.
I guarantee you if you wrote your post with the right kind of imagery and careful composition and human drama you would get a million views and tons of support.
A) presume ALL Chinese companies are a scam... or at least, are trying to scam you out of your money (the difference is - some are 'legitimately' scamming you of your money!)
B) Therefore, just because it's legit doesn't mean it's not a scam! I'm sure there are a number of people on here with such stories. Everything in China involves corruption. To get to the top, you have to be the most corrupt, and the biggest scammer...
C) To answer your question - you can't. The best you're going to get is finding other (trustworthy - and therefore, not mainlanders) who have dealt with that company before, and get their opinion...
Ask them to provide a copy of their business licence. If they are legit they shoul do this okay. If a scam artist then I bet they won't....or they'll send you a badly photoshopped one.
You then need to get someone Chinese to check the licence. You should be able to do this on government websites.
I had a problem last year with a factory who's ISO9001 certificate was coming up for renewal (I keep records of all certification for factories I deal with). I asked this factory for a scan of their updated certificate. When they sent me it was a very badly scanned one. Looked like it had been through a fax machine a few times. So I check it against our original copy. Apart from the date and certificate number it looked EXACTLY the same. When I looked closer I realised both old and new certificates were to a withdrawn version of the standard!
So the next week while in another factory where were have a good relationship I asked the owner about certificates. He provided the link to the official Chinese certification body website. When my assistant did the checks it turned out the new number didn't exist and the old number actually belonged to another company we work with. They had their certificates on their website (including the old one) and when I checked it was 100% clear that this other company had downloaded and photoshopped the other ones ISO9001 certificate.
We haven't done business with the cheating bastards again!
Shining_brow:
Just curious - did you tell the cheating bastards you caught them out?
Hotwater:
Not personally! Told our client the full story and gave them the information/proof. The said they would take it from there.
I sooooo wanted to call them out myself. The export manager was so full of shit and had lied to me consistently about this and a couple of other issues. Felt quite sad that I couldn't do it myself.... ;-)
I went one better at the last Canton Fair...met another British guy who traded with them.....told him the story as well.
The only scam perpetrated here was against the good people of this forum who clicked here expecting a compelling, original post and found a trite, well-worn retread of a tale of a vague "scam" involving a one-dimensional uncle character who we have no reason to be interested in or root for. While the IP address attempted to give the tale a modern twist it failed to resonate with today's tech-savvy forum members.
2 out of 5 stars, hardcore fans of the scam post genre might find something worthwhile here but everyone else should look elsewhere
aang:
If you are looking for a novel story go and but it. This is a forum, if you are not interested in answering the question, please just leave it no one forces you to answer it. Dont bother with your negative posts...
I am not looking for a novel story, I am trying to help you write a post that people will enjoy reading and really get behind.
Let me give you an example
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/why-you-should-never-call-safea
This post is patently ridiculous and recycles a story that we've all heard before...but it was written with vivid imagery and strong characterization and so people really liked it. We all a lot of fun and it got the word out that maybe SAFEA wasn't the most reliable source.
That is interesting writing and that's why your post has failed to resonate with the audience and has received such poor reviews.
icnif77:
Vlad said: 'Я безмолвен'
It means: 'I am stitch-less ....'
Meet 'advanced-language-learning-method-with-camera' ... out of my head-aa
I need help ...... How's Bo-bama's mobile provider? Sprint-PCS sucks!
P.S.t.t.
Vlad's pic is the best cure for pimple-ssss ....I heard, people are writing....
You are givin me an example of your own post.... Did I ask for help in writing a post? Anyway appreciate your opinion and HELP.
expatlife26:
yeah but that's what you need help with first and foremost.
Tell a good story and people will read it, elsewise it gets lost in the shuffle of china scam posts
icnif77:
Property Disclosure:
''I granted 1 'up' everywhere where Vlad's .....'cause 'charisma', i.e. 'compelling attractiveness, charm ' .....
LM-ButT-ocks-O!''
You need to know a platform where the trusted and verified companies are registered. Like alibaba, it is as below: www.gttown.com
GreatTao:
@aang
You're most welcome. If you have any problem living or working in China, let me know. Set out a Chinese team to help you. Have a nice day.