China Cracks Down on Recruitment-to-Training Scams Targeting Job Seekers
Chinese authorities have launched a nationwide campaign to clean up the human resources market, warning job seekers about a surge in “recruitment-to-training” (招转培) scams and illegal intermediary traps that have defrauded thousands of applicants, particularly fresh graduates. The State Council’s Employment Promotion and Labor Protection Leading Group Office issued a notice deploying a special rectification campaign across the country, as reported by Xinhua News.
A Three-Step Deception
On May 15, five government departments — the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Security, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration — jointly issued a risk alert detailing the typical scam pattern, according to China News Service.
The scheme follows a calculated three-step process. First, fraudsters post fake job advertisements for popular fields such as AI, programming, and video editing, promising “zero barriers to entry” and “high salaries” to lure applicants. Second, during interviews, recruiters deliberately criticize candidates’ skills and experience, creating anxiety and self-doubt. Third, they recommend expensive pre-job training courses and pressure victims into paying hefty fees — often by taking out loans through micro-lending platforms.
Fresh graduates are the primary target. “This group generally lacks job-seeking experience and has insufficient understanding of industry recruitment standards and salary levels,” the five-department alert noted. “Combined with employment pressure and anxiety, they are easily deceived by false promises.”
Real Cases, Real Victims
Authorities published a batch of major cases investigated since 2025, revealing the scale and variety of these schemes.
In one case from September 2025, a Beijing media technology company recruited a job seeker identified as Gu for an “operations assistant” position, promising a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan. After the interview, the company induced Gu to sign a training agreement worth 18,800 yuan. When Gu could not pay, the company directed him to take out a loan through a micro-lending platform with monthly payments of 1,777 yuan. Beijing authorities intervened, canceled the loan, refunded the fees, and uncovered a criminal gang led by a person surnamed Sun.
Other cases paint a broader picture of exploitation. In Jilin, a human resources company posted false ads claiming “guaranteed hiring” by state-owned enterprises. In Hubei, an unlicensed network company illegally profited 14,000 yuan by collecting advertising fees from employers without a human resources service license. In Shanghai, a company was fined for discriminatory recruitment ads that restricted applicants based on household registration and ethnicity. In Hebei, a labor dispatch company imposed illegal 3-to-7-day “unpaid trial work” periods, dismissing workers without pay after the trial ended.
Systemic Challenges and Government Response
The problem has grown beyond isolated incidents. As a People’s Daily commentary published on May 23 noted, recruitment-to-training scams have become “scaled and industrialized,” with criminal gangs registering shell companies and using standardized scripts to defraud victims systematically.
Key vulnerabilities enable these schemes. Scammers often use separate companies for recruitment and training to evade liability and break the chain of responsibility. Some online platforms have financial ties to training institutions, incentivizing them to simplify loan approval processes and minimize risk warnings, leaving job seekers “in debt before earning a single yuan,” the five-department alert warned.
In response, the government has deployed an unprecedented level of inter-departmental coordination. The State Council’s action plan, issued on May 18, calls for joint enforcement across human resources, cyberspace, education, public security, and financial regulatory authorities. The campaign coincides with broader employment promotion efforts, including a “Million Youth Skills Improvement Training” program and over 3,600 campus recruitment events nationwide.
What to Watch For
Experts and officials agree that enforcement alone is not enough. The People’s Daily commentary called for systemic solutions: “Eradicating the recruitment-to-training chaos cannot rely solely on job seekers being vigilant and post-incident punishment. A front-line defense must be built.” This includes increasing public exposure of违规 institutions, raising the cost of violations through industry bans and criminal liability, and breaking information silos between government departments.
For job seekers, authorities advise verifying that recruitment agencies hold valid human resources service licenses, being skeptical of “zero-barrier, high-salary” offers, and never paying upfront fees or signing loan agreements for training. Victims are urged to report incidents to local human resources and social security departments or the public security authorities.
As China’s job market faces continued pressure from record graduate numbers, the campaign represents a significant effort to protect workers from exploitation — but its long-term success will depend on whether the government can sustain the momentum and build the institutional safeguards that make such scams unprofitable in the first place.