Teachers lose everything after paying “student connection fee”

Hundreds of teachers across China have fallen victim to a pyramid scheme masquerading as an online teaching platform, with many losing hundreds of thousands of yuan.

Chinese police are investigating a series of scams that occurred in several provinces and cities including Chengdu, Shanghai, and Haikou. According to local media and authorities, a company called Jinan Haisheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. lured hundreds of teachers to its online teaching platform with promises of high income and flexible schedules. However, it turned out to be a sophisticated scam.

The company recruited teachers for part-time online tutoring classes, advertising pay rates of up to 600 yuan for small-group lessons and 900 yuan for large classes. In order to “connect with students,” teachers were required to pay an information fee ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 yuan in advance. Initially, the company paid on time, building trust with teachers.

Hundreds of teachers across China have fallen victim to a pyramid scheme masquerading as an online teaching platform, with many losing hundreds of thousands of yuan. Photo: VCG.

One victim, a teacher in Hebei Province who used the pseudonym Yang Yang, told The Paper that she joined the platform in October 2024. Having a full-time job at a private school, she was attracted by the flexible teaching schedule and high pay. After a few paid lessons, Yang Yang introduced more teachers to join and received additional rewards for each successful referral.

However, in early 2025, the company suddenly posted a notice delaying payments via the WeChat platform, then disbanded the chat group, leaving teachers unable to contact it. After that, the platform operator, surnamed Zhang, disappeared without a trace.

Yang Yang said she transferred a total of about 110,000 yuan to the company, including the money she paid on behalf of people she introduced. But the actual amount she and the other teachers received from teaching was just under 30,000 yuan.

Another case in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, suffered even more severe losses. The teacher had referred more than 160 people to the platform, receiving 200 yuan for each referral. She transferred a total of more than 1 million yuan to the company, but only received 700,000 yuan in return. After paying her own teachers, she suffered a loss of about 500,000 yuan.

Students pretend to be students, "ghost" classroom

The suspicious point arose when many teachers realized that the “students” in the class did not turn on their microphones or cameras, but only interacted via chat. The company explained that the students were studying at the center and using projectors to watch lectures, so it was not convenient to turn on the camera or talk. However, the truth was revealed when the police investigated and the domestic press got involved.

Authorities discovered that the company had hired people to pretend to be students to create “ghost” classes and collect student connection fees from teachers. After the operator, surnamed Zhang, disappeared, Yang Yang tried to contact one of the people she had sent money to introduce a new teacher. The person admitted that he was just a university student and was hired to take classes for 50 yuan per session.

Online recruitment scams are becoming increasingly common in China, especially as workers hunt for flexible part-time jobs. Sophisticated tricks that prey on the desire to earn extra income and advance their careers have led many victims to fall into the trap.

Not only in the education sector, but many other sectors have also been exploited as fronts for fraud. In January this year, the Fujian provincial cyberspace administration issued a warning about fake voice actor recruitment scams that required candidates to pay training fees in advance. Recently, Shanghai police promptly stopped a local resident from transferring 70,000 yuan to attend a suspected fraudulent course.

In response to the rise of online and telecommunications fraud, the Chinese government has stepped up its efforts to prevent it. In late 2024, the central government issued a series of new regulations to tighten enforcement of the Law on Anti-Internet and Telecommunications Fraud, which will take effect in 2022. The aim of these policies is to improve control capacity, strictly handle fraud, and protect people from increasingly sophisticated tricks.

Currently, many victims are still filing complaints and cooperating with the police to track down the operator, Mr. Truong. Meanwhile, experts advise workers to be cautious when faced with job offers with unusually high incomes, especially when accompanied by a request for advance payment. In addition, online platforms are also required to increase their responsibility in censoring and verifying partners to limit the environment for scammers to take advantage of.

Source: https://danviet.vn/lop-hoc-ma-giao-vien-mat-trang-sau-khi-dong-phi-ket-noi-hoc-sinh-2025032903340421.htm