I am sure you have received calls from ‘financial advisers’ and emails of inheriting a fortune from a distant relative. Ever since I started to register my own business, I have received tons of calls from swindlers, making up a plethora of lies ranging from ridiculous to highly skilled. If you live in China, this unfortunately is a fact of life. I hope some of my experiences could help you be more aware.

Top 3 lies:

1. I am the local tax authority. New businesses need to receive tax training (which is true). The training is free (hook), but you need to pay for books. I will courier them to you. You pay the courier man. (ha, definitely a scam).

2. I am Google (or Baidu) ‘s sales rep. We are offering a limited time promotion to promote your site.

3. I am from the local commerce bureau. We have an orientation course for new businesses. You need to attend.

Special attention: if you use an agent to handle your registration process as many do, pay a bit more and choose a trustworthy one (although price is no indicator of integrity). I have known people whose agent disappear overnight, causing them to lose not only money but also time.

An easy way to tell if you are talking to a scammer is through phone numbers. If they are using a cell phone number, it is a scam for sure. And finally, as a rule of thumb, always always be doubtful when you receive calls from ‘authorities’. They are scams 99.9% of the time. Although I did once ignore several calls from China Telecom and end up missing the internet upgrade.