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Q: List of CFTU-network Scam Sites
Alright now that scammer is posting again, I agree with Sinobear that anonymous posting is pointless and should be disallowed. We're already as anonymous as we need to be.
I want to make a list of sites that we KNOW are part of that scam network so we can refer to this when someone starts link spamming. I don't want to help their SEO by posting links to their bullshit so i'm just going to write the names.
ChinaForeignTeachersUnion
China Scam Patrol
China Scam Alert
China Business Central (an open salon blog)
China Youth Football League
Pegasus Productions
ESL Watch
Clever China Cheaters
Anybody who posts links to this stuff can be branded a scammer right away. Why? Because NOT ONE person with a real name, face or history is involved with ANY of that shit. I issue this challenge every single time they start spamming us: If ONE person comes out and says "I'm a CFTU member, here's my facebook page with years of conversation with friends and photos of these fabled CFTU events" or "here's my blog or something" and I take all this back. No takers. Because it's not real.
The only people who talk about ANY of those sites, are those sites. Who only talk about each other. And none of whom have a real name attached.
Every bit of real information they post, for example they'll name drop a recruiter they don't like, can be found elsewhere. Let me give you an example. They post some shit on here about a legitimate bad recruiter...and it'll be true, but it's not because they have any inside info, it's because a real person who was ripped off by them wrote a blog about it and they repost that info. And that person writing the blog has a real name and a history he is willing to post under.
Either it's a creepy cult or it's a scam run by one con man. Simplest explanation.
I have nothing against the idea of an expat advocacy group. I have something against THIS group because it's obviously a scam.
Hopefully we can draw out some here because they always feel the need to respond to any accusation (completely out of context) to make it look 2-sided. They're going to call me a recruiter and refer to an article by someone saying that echinacities is all a scam, and their own forum posts saying that anyone who doubt them is a recruiter. Because a forum post is freaking gospel right?
And yeah my posts aren't gospel either and i'm not a fucking hypocrite. But I think i'm bringing up reasonable suspicions and setting a fair standard of proof. Somebody real steps forward I take it all back cause I have no skin in this game at all other than wanting to stifle a likely con artist.
I'm not a recruiter, i've been on this site for a while and I think I've showed a consistent personality the whole time.
For those of you who don't know, and to provide some context for the issue. Here are the last two threads people made calling out the CFTU network of scam sites. They are 6 months apart.
The first one you see swarming comments...which are pretty easy to spot as being from the same guy. And are completely inorganic. I mean EVERY single one of those is from someone who is NOT a member but just loves it so much they must defend it's honor? Give me a break. Again, there are all these people who just LOVE the CFTU and it's sites so much but aren't members...as if it's such a common thing to talk about; such a relevant presence in our lives. There are allegedly thousands of members and none of us know ANY of them?
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/can-we-sort-out-cftu-thing-once-and-all
The second link is my own thread. I'd been watching them for a while and that's all that me and some of the other guys on this forum could dig up on them. The guy had a similar scam before this called China Trade Commission and you can find the exact same Pinocchio-style posts defending the honor of this great totally-not-made-up organization against the unfaithful who DARE question their unsupported claims!
Theres also some responses to their stock defenses like "oh why do you always bring up the CFTU?" or "But how are they a scam they never asked for any money!"
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/admin-why-do-you-let-cftu-guy-almost-post-here
I posted all this other stuff because what's very likely to happen given the past is that accounts are going to come out of the woodwork to ask questions which are answered in the context of the broad discussion but if you don't say them in a specific thread the accounts will pretend they've never been addressed before. Stuff that anyone who is a member of this site can find easily or should know because this comes up a lot. "I'm confused! everyone i talk to says the CFTU is such a helpful group? Why would you bash and trash them?" hahaha no, no one has ever said that.
But the point to posting on this site is just for their google ranking and to make it look like theres two sides to the debate. There's not.
There are a couple of things i find odd about all of this.
I have never heard of this evil organisation, other that on this website. Perhaps my websurfing isn't as extensive as it could be.
For a scam that has been outted they go to a lot of effort. And for what? Seems pointless.
Any story, question or OP that doesn't conform to some unknown criteria is a a stfu shill. Tin hats anyone?
So much effort by various members goes into providing details, links, creating accounts for the purpose of complaining (gary367 or whatever). Isn't this just promoting what you allege to want to destroy?
I still can't see the point of this scam. It just seems like too much work for peanuts if the stories are to be believed. Are these conspiracy stories any more credible than the subject of their ire? Who cares, right?
Has anyone, personally been scammed or do you personally know anyone who was scammed? What happened? Anyone?
One final point, if every man and his dog knows they are a scam how do they find their marks? Is it just questions like this thread or the beijiner that promote it?
This whole scenario seems odd and smells fishy to me.
icnif77:
I concur! Extortion scam? At e-myJackets-cities?
This whole thing could be run technically by the one person with several computers.
expatlife26:
if you are insinulabeling that i'm gary you are wrong.
but way back when half the threads would be this guy smearing his target
iWolf:
There was no insinulabelation. Just saying a user makes his first post and it is complaining about the stfu. I also noticed that what appeared to be a legitimate question that just happened to reference the questionable article concerned was deleted. Posted by that pirate parrot who i doubt is a plant by that organisation. If they are using a parrot who speaks like a pirate to gather credibility then they are sadly mistaken.. lol
expatlife26:
i liked our pirate parrot account what happened to that guy? what was that username?
iWolf:
Me too! Unlike other shifty accounts the pirate's parrot stayed in character. Bring back the pareot!
heymikey:
Yup. Another conspiracy theory. This time they.want to take.over ECC which is among the most powerful among the not totally so unknown job websites . One to rule them all..
Anybody can remember or finds other ones post them please post them here
Hey relax, mister. Why you always dissin' a legit organization? Take a seat, have a cookie. Let me buy you a beer. Maybe we can work this out... you like scam money? I got loads. Got it from reccommending teachers in need to pay bogus 'specialists' and then selling their info to the authorities. Serves them right for contacting a union in the first place, the criminals. Haven't you always wanted to catch crooks? Isn't this the perfect way (on paper) to realize your dream? Join us. C'mere, see what I got for ya!
expatlife26:
maybe i'm just jealous I didn't think of the scam first. I dunno, maybe you're right. If you can't beat em join em!
Great post. He/she/it posted something on eslcafe a month or two ago offering the services of his Chinese lawyer uncle or whatever for 10,000 rmb.
Maybe that's what you get is you ask them for help? I don't know.
Well done expatlife26.
Okay people, so I have been looking more precisely in all this bullshit, and I referenced and hierarchized as best as I could all the links I could find about it. What I discovered is a nicely crafted smoke screen which separates into 4 + 1 categories, as follow:
1 - The CFTU/Scam busting Core Network
2 - The Kinda friendly network
3 - The externally hosted network
4 - The legit domains occupied by the wumaos
5 – The headquarter - The Craig/Greg/Kenneth Hill network (here it gets interesting)
If you are too lazy to read, here is my conclusion (for people with VPN only I guess) :
If you are interested, let's start then with all the data I could collect :
1 - The CFTU/Scam busting Core Network
Consisting of self owned domains, pushing either the « CFTU » or the « Scam busting » agenda of saying that “China is a very dangerous place full of danger”.
chinaforeignteachersunion.org
Creation Date: 2012-08-26
Updated Date: 2014-08-27
Sponsoring Registrar: GoDaddy.com
Remarks : Core domain of the CFTU. Various articles about the dangers of being a ESL teacher in China. Amateurish look.
“The CFTU is a volunteer organization composed of foreign teachers working in China dedicated to promoting creative and progressive education as well as protecting the interests of foreign teachers in China. For a copy of our mission statement please send an email to MS[at]ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org. All foreign teachers employed in China are encouraged to apply for CFTU membership and enjoy the collective strength and support of your 29,642 expat colleagues now teaching in China.”
chinaforeignteachersunion.com
Updated Date: 27-aug-2014
Creation Date: 26-aug-2012
Registrar: GoDaddy.com
Remarks : Core domain of the CFTU. Various articles about the dangers of being a ESL teacher in China. Amateurish look.
“This is a peer to peer blog site for China foreign teachers and expats to advise one another of important issues and scams in progress. Use it well to your advantage!”
chinascampatrol.org
Creation Date: 2012-11-07
Updated Date: 2013-11-10
Registrar: GoDaddy.com
Remarks : Anti-scam blog.
“If your cheese is important to you, and you do not want to share it with scheming strangers from around the world, you have come to the right place. Our job here is to show you how to protect and hide your cheese from both bold & sophisticated thieves around the world. And, if they already stole your cheese, we'll show you how to get it back and warn others world-wide. If you cannot see the photos above/below, you need a VPN to view this website.”
LINKING TO :
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=615297
http://www.cleverchinacheaters.com/
cleverchinacheaters.com
Creation date : 26-aug-2012
Updated date : 27-aug-2014
Registar : GODADDY.COM
Remarks : Scam busting website, with a list of supposed offenders. Lots of unverified story with real names. Super amateurish look.
E-mail adresses : ChinaFraudCenter@Gmail.com
Last article date : 30/10/2012
Linking to : www.International-Recovery-Service.com
international-recovery-service.com
Creation date : 07-nov-2012
Updated date : 20-nov-2013
Registar : GODADDY.COM
Remarks : Fraud recovery. Claiming to have busted the fraud of « Clever China Cheaters ». Sure. amateurish look. Expires on nov 7th 2014. Will it be renewed ?
E-mail adresses : IRSAsia@Gmail.com
Last article date : 05/10/2012
First words : “If you have been victimized by a Clever China Cheater's fraud - relax. Stop cursing long enough to read this. Do not panic. There is a very good chance you can get your money back if you know the real name of the person you were dealing with, or the address of where the company is really located. Even if you don't know either piece of information there is still a 50/50 chance of recovery. With the above information, your odds grow to over 80%. What do you need to do now most is calm down and fight your urge to run to a lawyer. Why?”
Linking to :
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/expat-life/china-scam-patrol-fighting-clever-with-clever/
http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2012/10/05/foreigners_go_shark_fishing_to_catch_clever_china_cheaters
http://www.CleverChinaCheaters.com
http://www.globaltrade.net/international-trade-import-exports/f/business/pdf/China/Legal-and-Compliance-How-To-Get-Your-Money-Back-From-Clever-China-Cheaters.html
chinascambusters.com
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Updated Date: 10-nov-2013
Creation Date: 17-dec-2012
Last article date : 31/12/2012
2 - The Kinda friendly network
A bunch of websites that aren't linkable per say but sure as hell are kind of friendly and present in a bunch of recurring links. They look more pro, but dodgy as hell.
Type : Website
Creation date : 2010-03-21
Updated date : 2013-12-21
Registar : GODADDY.COM
Other might be relevant info :
Registrant Organization:Right In Front Marketing & Promotions
Registrant Street: Apartdo De Correos
Registrant City:177 Muro De Alcoy
Registrant State/Province:Alicante
Registrant Email:kevn.cope@gmail.com
Remarks : Not a blog. Semipro looking website. « What we do? ESL watch encourages positive and negative reviews on hagwons, schools, universities and recruiters. » Claiming to have stories from all over the world. Reality is most of the non-China sections are either empty, or nearly empty. Datamining suspected.
Last article date : 22-oct-2014
Linking to : Home page links to
EnglishJobFinder.com
ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org (presented as a Volunteer organisation protecting teachers in China.)
EnglishJobFinder.com
Creation date : 28-aug-2007
Updated date : 30-jul-2014
Registar : GODADDY.COM
Other might be relevant info :
Registrant Name: kevin cope
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: 8 merrills avenue
Registrant City: crewe
Registrant State/Province: cheshire
Registrant Postal Code: CW2 8SP
Registrant Country: United Kingdom
Remarks : Same template as http://eslwatch.info/. Supposedly for finding jobs. Facebook/Twitter/RSS link all lead back to eslwatch.
3 - The externally hosted network
Clearly a part of the scheme, but not self hosted. As amateurish looking and full of shit as the core network.
China Business Central - http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central
Type : Blog
First post : 05/10/2012
Last post : 20/10/2014
Remarks : Blog relaying scary stories about ESL in China. « China Arrests Fake Foreign Teachers & ESL Job Recruiters » and such, along with random stories from China. On a side note, you'll find a bunch of other bogus organizations like the “Pegasus production” and “China Youth Football League”.
Links to : www.CleverChinaCheaters.com
http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/expat-life/scam-busters-introducing-china-scam-patrol1/ http://www.zimbio.com/Venture+Capital/articles/rCq7fS5fsn0/Foreign+Robin... http://www.International-Recovery-Service.com/
http://www.ChinaScamPatrol.org http://www.globaltrade.net/f/business/pdf/China/Legal-and-Compliance-How-To-Get-Your-Money-Back-From-Clever-China-Cheaters.html
http://chinascamalert.wordpress.com/
http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.com
http://chinafraudpatrol.blogspot.dk/
First post : 29/04/2013
Last post : 20/09/2014
Remarks : Blog relaying the usual scary BS stories about ESL in China (shady recruiters and scam agents).
Links to :
http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2013/01/31/beware-chinaesl-scam-alert-rebecca-tang-will-rip-you
http://eslwatch.info/china-2/bad-recruiters-review-in-china/7150-webb-international
http://forums.eslcafe.com/teacher/viewtopic.php?p=45560
http://www.thebeijinger.com/node/1592803
http://www.abroadreviews.com/tefl-tesol-certificate-scams-no-china-requi... http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=616386
http://www.chinascampatrol.wordpress.com
http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6753
http://www.chinascambusters.com
http://www.eslwatch.info/china-2/news-98/603-china-newsflash/12162-official-foreign-teacher-requirements-to-teach-esl-tefl-in-china-today-not-what-you-think.html
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=617489 http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.com
http://chinascamalert.wordpress.com/
Type : Blog
First post : 17/02/2013
Last post : 19/10/2014
Hosted at : Wordpress
Remarks : Header name « China Wolf Watch » Blog about scams and working in China.
Links to :
http://www.ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org
http://ChinaScamPatrol.wordpress.com
http://www.ChinaScamBusters.com
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304655304579547433343514724
http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/sa-short-report/backdoor-loophole-into-the-biggest-ipo-in-history/
http://www.chinascambusters.com
http://www.chinascamwatch.wordpress.com
http://www.chinaforeignteachersunion.org
http://eslwatch.info/china-2/news-98/603-china-newsflash/12192-veteran-esl-china-teacher.html
http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2014/09/07/new_china_foreign_employee_teacher_requirements_now_strict
http://chinascampatrol.wordpress.com/
Type : Blog
First post : 15/19/2014
Last post : 14/02/2013
Hosted at : Wordpress
Remarks : First post is a slanderous article about Echinacities, quoting Craig/Greg Hill's « China Daily Mail ».
Links to :
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/12/18/echinacities-expat-website-now-a-propaganda-machine/
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/07/14/china-targets-foreigners-through-expat-websites/
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/09/30/chinese-school-recruiters-scam-expat-teachers/
http://www.eslwatch.info/china-2/scams-or-schemes-in-china/12147-beware-of-agents-recruiters-masquerading-as-esl-tefl-teachers-at-expat-esl-tefl-forums.html
http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2014/04/12/too-many-agents-recruiters-now-posting-teachers-expat-forums
http://www.eslbase.com/forum/viewtopic/t-3125
http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6523
http://chinascampatrol.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/china-expat-forums-friend-or-foe-either-way-a-conflict-of-interest-for-sure/
http://open.salon.com/blog/china_business_central/2013/03/13/phony_china_recruiters_now_target_5000_expats_monthly_1
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140826064935AAKBSKG
http://www.ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org
http://worldwolfwatch.wordpress.com
http://chinascambusters.com
http://chinaforeignteachersunion.org
http://globalblacklist.org
http://eslwatch.info
http://www.cleverchinacheaters.com/2012/09/10-reasons-why-you-should-never-use.html
http://worldwolfwatch.wordpress.com/
Type : Blog
First post : 05/04/2014
Last post : 05/04/2014
Hosted at : Wordpress
Mails quoted : investigations@chinascampatrol.org complaintdetails@chinascamcentral.com
Remarks : First post is a slanderous article about Echinacities, quoting Craig/Greg Hill's « China Daily Mail ».
Links to :
http://www.ChinaScamBusters.com
http://www.ChinaForeignTeachersUnion.org
http://www.CleverChinaCheaters.com.
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/12/18/echinacities-expat-website-now-a-propaganda-machine/
http://www.eslbase.com/forum/viewtopic/t-3125
http://www.scam.com/showpost.php?p=1783414&postcount=3
A couple of lazy ones with only 1 article
http://internationalteflreviews.wordpress.com/
http://globalteflreviews.wordpress.com/
4 - The legit domains occupied by the wumaos
These websites are legit places where apologists managed to get in and are pushing their agenda. Which is mainly about crafting authentic sources, SEO, slandering ECC and sucking their own dicks.
ESL Base
http://www.eslbase.com/forum/viewtopic/t-3125
« Did you notice the fake teachers posting on ESL/TEFL forums? »
Date : 18 Nov 2013
ESL Jobs
http://www.esl-jobs-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=6523
« China Forum Job Scam Fraud Is Getting Outrageous! »
Date : 21/04/2013
« The CFTU just got banned from ECC after identifying fake ads from 7 dodgy recruiters, followed by a smear campaign against the volunteer teachers group in China by 3 ECC users who write with the same style. I then stumbled across this post from another user, and now it all makes sense to me.. »
Remember the part where Almost & Co. identified dodgy recruiters ? Because I don't. But heh, anything goes, who will go check.
Scam.Com
This website is a forum aimed at denouncing various scams (even though actually it looks more like a scam itself, but since the register date goes back to 1994, I'm just going to give it due respect). Ok, so on the « internet » section,
http://www.scam.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2
you will find a couple of very prolific accounts from the network. « Meteor » and « Curious Carol » which are mainly in the business of – as usual - sucking their own dicks from within the network and slandering ECC as a scam website.
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=620155
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=616386
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=623305
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=624768
http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?t=620902
Yahoo Answers
From a very prolific user called « Ivy » https://answers.yahoo.com/activity/questions?show=Q5AU3Y5GKFF6APAHQWQRLBB5F4&t=g all the usual scary blah and links soup
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130503170222AA7AW44
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20140918175505AAFw9As
Moar vendetta agains ECC.
Scamwarners.com
Not much to say https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=88874
5 – The headquarter - The Craig/Greg/Kenneth Hill network
At first glance, it looks like it's having very little to do with all of the above. At first glance only. The owner, an ex-moderator of ECC (Traveler), often gets very slanderous about ECC and his main site, the « China Daily Mail » is yet another empty shell that is actually going in the exact same direction as the CFTU and affiliates.
China Daily Mail
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Updated Date: 12-may-2013
Creation Date: 25-feb-2012
Registrant Name: Kenneth Hill
Registrant Organization:
Registrant Street: Luoyang Yi Gao
Registrant City: Luoyang
Registrant State/Province: Henan
Registrant Postal Code: 471000
Registrant Country: China
Registrant Phone: 1-519-821-9953
Registrant Phone Ext:
Registrant Fax:
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: contact@craighill.net
Looks legit? Look better. It's datamining at its best.
Okay, so the China Daily Mail introduces itself as « News and Opinions From Inside China ».
Except that in reality, there are hardly any news and opinion in the China Daily Mail. Most of the articles you will find there are ripped off copypastas from other websites, see this example :
China Daily Mail version : http://chinadailymail.com/2013/12/29/china-bans-battlefield-4-video-game-declares-it-a-threat-to-national-security/
Original version : http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/12/28/china-issues-blanket-battlefield-4-ban/
The original is from Forbes. The only difference in the China Daily Mail version is the presence of a soup of irrelevant links (like Russia linking to the Wikipedia article). Typical Search Engine Optimization stuff also used by the CFTU network.
That shameless data mining even goes to the point where the site boasts it has dozens of contributors. All of them are either unverifiable, nonexistant individuals, all posting rip-offs. Most don't exist. If they exist, they certainly aren't willingly contributing to the China Daily Mail, but were rather ripped content. Like Alexander Crossley here:
http://chinadailymail.com/author/alexandercrossley/
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/11/18/chinas-xi-jinping-outlines-significant-reform-pledges/
http://alexander-crossley.com/2013/11/22/chinas-xi-jinping-outlines-significant-reform-pledges/
Okay, now we established the China Daily Mail is BS, let's have a look at the ONLY original articles you will find on the website :
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/07/08/chinas-new-visa-laws-target-expats/
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/09/30/chinese-school-recruiters-scam-expat-teachers/
http://chinadailymail.com/2012/07/01/visa-rules-tighten-for-foreigners-in-china-10-years-expulsion/
Starting to see a pattern here?
And there's more, see some good slander about ECC.
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/12/27/fake-expat-website-claims-western-countries-see-china-in-a-very-positive-light/
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/12/18/echinacities-expat-website-now-a-propaganda-machine/
So at this point, we notice there is no editorial difference between the China Daily Mail and all the CFTU network. None.
But I see this coming:
http://answers.echinacities.com/node/126507
A post from a year ago about Traveler, revealing himself as Craig Hill, calling the crap our of the CFTU. Confusing, right. Except that it's alledgedly BS. Keep reading.
Traveler claims he has investigated the CFTU, here is his conclusion:
http://chinadailymail.com/2013/03/25/china-foreign-teachers-union-could-be-another-chinese-scam/
Yeah, a 404. It's even still present in the « Expat Warnings » section of his main page. Why delete it?
But let's go back to that ECC post.
Quoting him:
« Not being totally adverse to such an operation, I set out to find out more. My email asking for more information, and offering to promote their service on other websites (not the answer board), was met with stony silence. A standard Chinese response, and warning light 3.
That is not to say I did not receive emails from them, under their various identities. One email asked me to side with them against eChinacities because they advertised for a specific agent in Beijing. It seemed the writer was out for revenge on this agent. My guess is because the agent didn't pay money to the union. Warning light 4
I received another email today, from sarahmplane, demanding an apology for exposing her as a scam. The email went to great lengths to convince me that she was genuine, and not one of the multiple identities. Again, a typical reaction from a Chinese person who has lost face. Also, the need to "fool the foreigner." Warning light 5. »
Nicely put.
Well, for starters, the CFTU and other child websites, they sure publish a FUCKING LOT of different mail contact adresses, to say the least. Just like Traveler, I decided to send emails to a bunch of them, claiming to seek their help just to see how it would turn out.
I got exactly 0 answer.
Actually, there are so many e-mails I guess no one bother reads them, if they ever existed.
So. The CFTU, the « Scam Patrol » and all those BS websites don't even give two shits when someone bites.
Why? Because they're not meant to be taken seriously. The CFTU Is an empty shell that rebrands every couple of months or so. It is not the agenda.
Consider also the fact that, contrary to what he claimed a year ago, Craig Hill/Traveler IS nowadays clearly siding against ECC. Everything both of them ever post these days are either scary stories, scam stories, or anti-ECC slanders. Looks like they're all pretty much on the same page, not really antagonists.
« There have been some interesting responses to this question, which was reposted on another site: www.chinadailymail.com/2013/03/25/china-foreign-teachers-union-could-be-another-chinese-scam/ First, CFTU edited their websites to cover up the concerns that had been pointed out, then attacked the article for inaccurate reporting. » - Traveler on ECC, quoting his infamous dead link.
« Was this just a disgruntled former employee? After much debate and deliberation we believe that Craig aka “Traveler” at ECC let his conscience prevail and was maybe seeking redemption with the above articles, foe which he wins our respect. But some of us here like to play devil’s advocate and we said to ourselves, “What if this is all being done behind the owner’s back by some greedy employee?” » -http://chinascampatrol.wordpress.com/
So, what to think? Well, considering all the evidence, here is my theory :
The CFTU – China Scam bullshit AND Craig Hill/China Daily Mail and all the contents in all the links I cited belong to the same person. The patterns are the same, the writing is the same, the formatting is the same, the stupid stock photos are the same, the SEO is the same.
To what purpose? See below:
CraigHill.net
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Updated Date: 14-jun-2014
Creation Date: 17-jun-2010
http://chinacashbuyers.com/
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, LLC
Updated Date: 31-jul-2014
Creation Date: 05-aug-2012
« Hey, you insecure expat, learn how to make business from me»
http://paulsalo.com/
Domain Name: PAULSALO.COM
Updated Date: 31-jul-2014
Creation Date: 25-oct-2007
All three domains, advertised in the China Daily Mail, are paid services.
- Craighill.net claims to be selling qualifications “starting at just $1200”. Which is like saying « Hey, you insecure expat, buy my education packages ».
- http://chinacashbuyers.com/ Claims to be selling instruction packages as to how to do business with Chinese. Which is like saying « Hey, you insecure expat, learn how to make business from me». Yes, Paul, let me in !
- http://paulsalo.com/ Well... just read it. Paul Salo is supposedly the owner of China Cash Buyer. “China is so confounding. Just when you love the place to bits, she kicks you in the face”. The rest of the blog is in the exact same vein.
So, here is the theory.
What would be the best promotion strategy for people selling this kind of bogus business/education packages?
Who would benefit from trying to make China look like a super insecure place for anyone trying to Google stuff about working/teaching/doing business?
Funding the problem and the solution altogether, a classic strategy and not really that hard to implement with time, organization and a good knowledge of search engines. Totally worth it if you can land some moron with an extra $1200 to spend every once in a while.
A hierarchy composed of crappy looking, dodgy as fuck websites that are actually empty shells, but contribute in creating an atmosphere of fear and paranoia, with a mix of better groomed domains and legit sites occupied by trolls is the best smoke screen you could imagine.
Think also about the fact that, no matter what I say today, all the BS domains are already super well referenced. They can be modified and edited at anytime to promote any sort of bullshit overnight and they will have a large diffusion.
RiriRiri:
Shit... the presentation is horrible. here is a more readable doc version https://www.dropbox.com/s/bkq273cv714f9ij/Untitled%201.doc?dl=0
Haha wow what a chart. CFTU-guy should step forward just to let us know how close you and me are with our accusations.
Come on! It's not like your scam is working anyway!
***** might be his real name as it's in the who is for eslwatch.info. Some other people below have stated he has a different name.
CFTU, Chinascampatrol, chinafraudpatrol, etc. is all a bunch of b.s. and created by the same guy who uses multiple usernames and posts responses to his stuff on sites like yahoo answers, scam.com, realscam.com, reddit (user name="888-88-888") and others.
I hope the links pointing to his stuff above are nofollow.
Build links to pages like this about this crook and not to his stuff.
http://answers.echinacities.com/question/my-research-and-conclusions-about-cftuscam-buster-scam
expatlife26:
That's a good point about not helping his SEO.
It seems like most people think his name is Bruce Gorcyca/Anthony Demarco or a combination of those.
He's a freak, as far as I can tell he thinks of himself as "The Leader". I figure he's a pathological liar/scammer, how much money could he possibly be making off all these stupid sites for the amount of time it takes?
Is CFTU/China Scam Patrol bullshit doing its nasty trick again? Any suggestion how to deal with this guy?
Seems they are at it again. The link below is a c&p from she there wechat expat "news" page.
http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Nx6dkJE6rf5CjPXKDA8Oqg
Englteachted:
That story smells like a load, what agent does face to face interviews? And why no other source for this story? 230 from 2 different cities? Each city does it's own work, they don't co operate.
philbravery:
looks like admin/lacky is already on to it with a new character.
Hotwater:
I thought it stunk of bullshit when I read it.
Similar was being posted on Reddit about certain agents/schools/job sites early last month that had CFTU/China Scammers Patrol written all over them.
I get the warnings about working illegally but these lot stink.
So is there a crack down or not?
It really doesnt effect me but now im curious if the Government is getting tougher or not.
IMO if you are breaking the rules of your visa then tough shit if you get caught.
I was sent the same story yesterday....a few times......but it was from a couple of different wechat news sites.
I couldn't give a flying unicorn if illegal workers get shafted. But if what is mentioned about the nefarious methods used and the potentially complicit websites has one iota of truth....nahhh, still don't care.
I saw it posted a few times on my wechat today too.
I tried to find the story in the news, but again the only place it was mentioned was on the usual CFTU and china scam patrol websites. Just the usual never ending circle of wordpress sites and all that.
I sent this link to the people who had posted the link to their "moments" page:
http://www.thebeijinger.com/forum/2015/04/20/warning-scam-blackmailing-c...
This thread has been heavily modded now, but at the time the story was a fascinating read. Well done to the Beijinger posters for all their work.
I checked a few of the expat websites and the story is doing the rounds. But on the lesser known sites. He is also answering himself with sock puppets. Seems the guy has laid low for a while to get decent post counts on the various sites before he resumes his campaign. All the posts reporting the news is written in the same style we all know so well: " My roomie Kate was nabbed yesterday" sort of stuff.
Just in case new posters don't know, the CFTU is a scam. It's an extortion racket.
There are a couple of things i find odd about all of this.
I have never heard of this evil organisation, other that on this website. Perhaps my websurfing isn't as extensive as it could be.
For a scam that has been outted they go to a lot of effort. And for what? Seems pointless.
Any story, question or OP that doesn't conform to some unknown criteria is a a stfu shill. Tin hats anyone?
So much effort by various members goes into providing details, links, creating accounts for the purpose of complaining (gary367 or whatever). Isn't this just promoting what you allege to want to destroy?
I still can't see the point of this scam. It just seems like too much work for peanuts if the stories are to be believed. Are these conspiracy stories any more credible than the subject of their ire? Who cares, right?
Has anyone, personally been scammed or do you personally know anyone who was scammed? What happened? Anyone?
One final point, if every man and his dog knows they are a scam how do they find their marks? Is it just questions like this thread or the beijiner that promote it?
This whole scenario seems odd and smells fishy to me.
icnif77:
I concur! Extortion scam? At e-myJackets-cities?
This whole thing could be run technically by the one person with several computers.
expatlife26:
if you are insinulabeling that i'm gary you are wrong.
but way back when half the threads would be this guy smearing his target
iWolf:
There was no insinulabelation. Just saying a user makes his first post and it is complaining about the stfu. I also noticed that what appeared to be a legitimate question that just happened to reference the questionable article concerned was deleted. Posted by that pirate parrot who i doubt is a plant by that organisation. If they are using a parrot who speaks like a pirate to gather credibility then they are sadly mistaken.. lol
expatlife26:
i liked our pirate parrot account what happened to that guy? what was that username?
iWolf:
Me too! Unlike other shifty accounts the pirate's parrot stayed in character. Bring back the pareot!
heymikey:
Yup. Another conspiracy theory. This time they.want to take.over ECC which is among the most powerful among the not totally so unknown job websites . One to rule them all..
