As a group, foreigners in China tend to be hit with their decent share of scams. While certainly not alone in their potential victimization, rare does a week go by my (Chinese-registered) phone doesn’t ring with some identity theft scam, China’s criminal element definitely have an eye out for the comparatively affluent and possibly unknowing laowai.
Case in point is a message I received from a good friend of mine in Suzhou yesterday about an experience she had:
A man and woman came to my apartment today claiming to be representatives from a bank where my landlord had applied for a loan. They said they needed to appraise the apartment as collateral against the loan. I called our agent who called the landlord and they had no knowledge of this. Unfortunately my Ayi had let them in and they had already taken some photos and left before I found out they were phony and probably casing our home for a robbery. After talking to the guards in our complex and my ayis I figured out that these people knew that I was a foreigner and knew exactly where I lived before they came into the complex.
While I’ve never experienced the above, I have certainly had a fair number of random people come to my door, flash some sort of ID and ask to see something in the apartment (gas metre, water metre, etc.). It has occurred to me that the “official” wasn’t who they said they were (or there ID says they are), as faking a uniform and a badge is on the simple side of what gets faked in China.
Other than locking windows and doors securely at night as well as getting a dog and a bat, I’m not sure what more can be done. Even renting in an upscale community (as my friend above does) means little more than you’re likely to be a bigger target. I’ve yet to meet a community security guard who doesn’t look like they could be blown over by a subtle breeze or bought off with a pack of smokes.
Stay safe friends.
Thoughts? Experiences?
That is disturbing (and also calls for some Ayi disciplinary action).
As a general rule, in China I NEVER answer a call from an unrecognized phone number (I don’t have a social life, so that’s simple enough), and never, ever let anyone inside my home whom I do not personally know – much to the frustration of the meter people.
Fortunately – or unfortunately – I lack the luxury of an Ayi, so it’s pretty easy to hold down the fort myself and not have to worry about other people’s carelessness.
And lest we forget, Chinese burglary rings are known to leave their mark on doorways, so be sure to carefully inspect your threshold.
http://www.china.org.cn/china/2012-01/18/content_24434450.htm
Good to know! Often have the lady who comes for Gas – and as you said, flashes her ID, comes into house, and then gone. I think this one is alright, but will defo be more cautious next time someone comes to door.
The scam that pisses me off most, is the “Tea Party” scam. Everytime I walk through People’s Square in Shanghai, I see tourists being led away by your Chinese to their Tea house or whatnot. Would be so easy to catch these guys, but I guess the police turn a blind eye.
Tangentially related, but I’ve had two friends in two different cities in China who were robbed within the past year. Interestingly, both robberies happened while they were in the apartment but asleep, which is pretty creepy. Moral of the story: lock your doors and windows, invest in a bat, and keep your valuables out of sight from windows if you live somewhere where criminals could easily peek into them.
Many years ago, i chased a robber out of the villa in which i was staying, only to have them creap back in through a different window after i went back to bed much later. Very bold.
Vary your routine. Get to know your neighbors. other than that…not much you can do but be vigilant.
That is very creepy, being robbed while sleeping. I have to say that probably happens everywhere. I’m in Canada, and it happened to my friend, but she woke up and screamed… lucky she didn’t get hurt. Her husband was around.
Pressure sensitive floor tiles connected to a crossbow. I think the ayi might quit if I did that though.
Yes! Finally an advantage of living in a crappy neighborhood. My experience: being the only foreigner in a neighborhood, it’s a good idea to get to know your neighbors, the gate guards, and some nainai’s. They may be nosey and over-protective, but at least they got your back.
I find it hard Ryan that here in my wife’s apartment in Chongqing, I do notice the amount of shady characters that be entering and leaving. Not sure if it has to do with a lot of street gambling that is going on with mah jong, or poker or the KTV next to our apartment.
I do recognize the gas meter lady who is a nice women and very jovial. Our water meter is on the outside so no need to let that person in. I do recognize most of the guys that bring the bottle of drinking water to our water cooler. Must count my blessing that China and Chongqing have not gone the SmartMeter route yet. I do have some nice but very nosy old ladies that tend to watch me come and go and gossip about it. As a result, they tend to see who is stopping by in our apartment for their afternoon gossip rounds. These old ladies usually tell my mother-in-law or wife if we got any visitors. I must admit these nosy old ladies are a necessary evil.
About our “security guard”, he is more like the handyman/maintenance worker who spends most of his time replacing burned out bulbs, faucet leaks and such. I have only seen him in a uniform once and that was when some big shot was suppose to be visiting some guy on the 25th floor. I know the adage about not judging books by their cover, but when I see our security guard, the guy is tiny. I mean I know some of the female resident berate him and he walks away like a wet kitten. I have to say this guy unless he is just the typical humble maintenance man who is hiding his martial arts prowess from the rest of us，I can say the skinny 100 pound teenager can push this guy around. Oh he is a cool nice guy, kind like a good poker buddy or mah jong buddy but security is not his calling.
I am lucky I am on the 14th floor, plus my wife has spend some money on a quality metal door that looks like it came off a battleship. I would think anyone fool hardy trying to break in our apartment from such a high level, unless they are either Spider-man or Batman.
Just recommend know your neighbors and chat with them to get an idea who they are. You never know that next door neighbor is probably telling their hoodlum pals about you and not know it. If you can try to get a dog, depending on living space, the bigger the better. A rottweilers are great but I know they need a lot of room. Believe me a rott will make room in a crowded street, saw one in Feng Du yesterday while visiting some relatives. First time seeing one in China I mean, most big dogs I have seen have been Golden Retrievers, or an occasional Husky or German Shepard.
I will say even with this revelation, this city and China in general tends to be safer than my city in California 100 times over. Especially when it comes to violent crime.
People have often come to my apartment to see the water or gas meter here in Beijing. I have alwyas let them do so, and they have always done nothing but look at the meter and then leave. I have never suffered any ill consequences whatsoever.
I think it’s easy to get paranoid, but let’s remember that China is much safer than most Western countries when it comes to this sort of thing.
It’s good advice not to get overly paranoid, and you’re definitely right in that China is by-and-large safer, but I don’t know if it extends to “this sort of thing”. China is safer than some Western countries when it comes to violent crime, but not necessarily when it comes to theft and scams. I think that non-violent theft and home-invasion are at least on par with developed country levels, if not higher. I think foreigners make an excellent target for this sort of crime as well, as we’re largely seen as affluent (even if we’re not), we may or may not fully understand our legal options, and I think on some level there is less moral ambiguity for a thief stealing from someone that both feel can afford it and isn’t “one of us“.
The other challenge that many foreigners have in China is a language barrier, and thus a competent bullshit detector. I think it can result in your average laowai being slightly more exposed in a situation like the above post than your typical Chinese.
I’m not saying you need to turn away everyone that comes to your door, or not trust anyone to be who they say they are. But I think being slightly on the overly cautious side of the hill is likely to be a benefit for any foreigner in China.
Ryan’s point welltaken. But the question is where do u draw the line between “overcautious” and Paranoia?.
“I’ve yet to meet a community security guard who doesn’t look like they could be blown over by a subtle breeze or bought off with a pack of smokes.”
Haha. Ain’t that the truth. What’s the point? It’s like they’re there just for show….oh wait…that makes sense now.
Update: Yesterday, as I was leaving to go meet a friend at a local cold noodle place, there happened to be two guys dressed in long-sleeved, collared shirts and even had a badge. From the limited Mandarin, I could only understand about free wi-fi promotional that I supposedly won. Luckily I was already outside, the door was shut closed. I told them that I do not remember about entering a contest for a free wi-fi setup.
BTW I already have wi-fi and if I can not completely read and understand forms, I let my wife handle it.
At that moment, our security guard/maintenance man saw the two guys and overheard what I said about not remembering entering any contest. The security guard immediately started to give these two guys the 3rd degree and I saw on their faces that they were caught in a lie. At that moment, one of them pulled a cellphone from the pocket and said they had to go but that they will come back later.
My mother-in-law opened the door and told me and the security guard that those guys were suspicious and up to no good. The security guard asked if we had let them in and I said no. I told him that I nearly bumped into them as I closed the door after walking out. The security guard told me that he will keep an eye on those guys because he said he saw them earlier on the elevator and since they were dressed professional and had a briefcase and messenger bags, he just thought of them as just another visitors. He did tell me that they seem to know to go to my apartment. I tried to ask for a business card to one of the men but they both said they left them in their car and could not provide one.
Anyway just watch out if anyone claims you won some contest and getting something for it. Especially do not let them in. Like I said, if I had not been lucky to catch these guys, they would have tried to tall a tale to my mother-in-law that I won and they would have tried to come in. These guys were in their early 20’s and about 5’6″-5’8″, between 150lbs-170lbs. These guys could easily overpower my mother-in-law (she’s only 5’4″ and weighs around 120lbs) My mother-in-law says she will not open any doors unless I tell her that someone is coming and if I am there.
Pretty scary since we saw in the local news that a newlyweds lost a total of 100,000 RMD from red pocket money, the jewelry, electronics that were stolen. Like I say, just stay vigilant people.
Having gotten to the point where the scammers pretending to be with the National Tax Bureau were threatening to have people come around and beat me up with I didn’t pay for the materials they couriered me after I told them I didn’t want them, nothing in the realm of Chinese scammers surprises me in the least.
The ones I hate the most are the text messages that say “my bank account number is …. please wire the money soon.”