China Insight
Beware: 10 Scams in China To Watch Out For
What’s on Weibo has compiled a list of 10 scams in China that are recently trending on social media or in China’s newspapers, victimising hundreds of people every day.
China Insight
Mbappé, Mao, and the Joke That Shall Not Be Named
Mbappé’s favorite Mao meme sparked major backlash in China. More on what the controversy reveals about political red lines, online humor, and censorship.
RESOU 热搜 | What’s Trending in China, Explained
Here, I briefly unpack the stories making waves on Chinese social media and share what stands out to me. Don’t miss an update: become a subscriber to Eye on Digital China today.
Oh oh oh, Mbappé, all those goals, yet you lost so many points on Chinese social media over the past 48 hours.
Following his 100th goal for Real Madrid during El Clásico and finishing second on Ballon d’Or night, French football player Mbappé is all the talk on Chinese social media — not for his achievements, but for what is seen as crossing a major red line in an online interview.
On Tuesday night, a text came in from Ruixin: “I am wide awake tonight and somehow witnessed live how the footballer Kylian Mbappé was getting blocked and totally canceled on Chinese social media for his comments about Mao Zedong over the past, like, three hours 😅”
I quickly grabbed my phone and saw the flood of Mbappé posts rapidly coming in, and it was clear that people were very cross with him.
Although it was already clear that this might not blow over any time soon, by early Wednesday morning it became painfully clear how the controversy had snowballed. Dongpeng Beverage Group (东鹏), one of the many Chinese companies that signed the famous sportsman as its brand ambassador, publicly stated that it was cutting all commercial ties with Mbappé. Soon, others followed.
Dongpeng Beverage Group (东鹏): the first in a string of companies to cut ties with French footballer Kylian Mbappé.
Mbappé’s fall from grace in China has been sudden and spectacular, like a major avalanche of backlash that unfolded in one night, and it can all be traced back to one segment of an interview the footballer previously did on a French YouTube show (The Bridge) that resurfaced online — initially through Reddit and X, and then on Chinese social media apps, like football platform Dongqiudi (懂球帝).
In that segment, when asked about his favorite meme, Mbappé replied that one of the memes he finds funniest is:
🗣️ “the one where they put my face on some guy, a Chinese dictator. That really makes me laugh, I use it with my friends all the time.”
The interview segment where Mbappé shares his favorite meme: his face photoshopped onto the face of a “Chinese dictator.”
The show, created by Mbappé’s Real Madrid teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni, added the image Mbappé referred to: his face photoshopped on a Mao propaganda visual. It’s part of a series of memes that emerged in 2024 in which Mbappé’s face is edited onto the faces of dictators.1
Chapter Dive
The French Protests, Viewed from China: Five Narratives on Chinese Social Media
From the decline of Europe to historical karma: these 5 narratives reveal how Chinese social media discusses the recent unrest in France.
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Mbappé, Mao & the Backlash on Chinese Social Media
Mbappé, Mao, and the Joke That Shall Not Be Named
The French Protests, Viewed from China: Five Narratives on Chinese Social Media
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de Wijs
July 9, 2015 at 10:23 pm
In Taiwan there have been scams like a stranger calling you to tell you your child has been abducted. They will even play a tape to ‘prove’ this is indeed the case, and then tell you to hand over a certain amount of money. As with all strange messages/communication, always double check!
Ann
July 9, 2015 at 10:32 pm
Also I’ve heard of set ups of men intimidating women, and a black cab coming in between as a ‘rescuer’ who turns out to be part of the plot. When the woman goes in the cab, she will be robbed.
aaa
July 10, 2015 at 4:40 pm
“taxi’s” should be “taxis”
Johnny Rico
July 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm
The 100 yuan note trick: you pay with a 100 note at a corner shop, the owner receives it, swaps it for a fake one under the counter. He then calls you back, telling you that you gave him fake money and he wants a different 100 note.
Jan
July 11, 2015 at 5:16 am
I missed the banknote teller machine scam. Say, you pay 1200 RMB, 12 notes of 100 RMB. They put it in the manipulated teller machine and it shows you gave only 11 notes and you need to give one more.
David
July 9, 2016 at 4:54 pm
Many thanks for sharing Manya! Some of these scams are really creative and it’s scary imagining how many people are being scammed by them. Thankfully, for travellers/foreigners in China, they are less likely to face some of these scams, but they are not spared by the many other scams such as the one you have raised such as the tea ceremony scam and massage parlour scam. From research (http://travelscams.org/asia/common-tourist-scams-china/), some other scams to look out for are fake money, fake taxis, fake jade, fake traditional chinese medicine shops and even fake bus stops!
Vanlal Dinpuia
August 13, 2016 at 10:53 pm
What about red mercury scam in China ?
Keith
December 13, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Does anyone know about Gold market scam seems many people are being targeted to invest all savings into spot markets
Peng Liang
January 13, 2017 at 8:53 am
I got experienced it once on 10th Jan 2017. The lady (seems attractive) been talking to me about it and telling me why choose gold market instead of stocks. She send me a website called goldunitedltd.com and saying it’s under strict hong kong laws and regulations so it can’t be a fraud. She will slowly ice-break with you and then she would say normally she would not do this but she can help you to open a VIP account but you have to keep it a secret as it’s against company’s policy. 50k usd for VIP and just let her know how much I want/can invest and she will help me anytime. 8-10% ROI every month. Well, I’m not a very good investor but that kind of ROI just based on gold binary options, is a high chance fraud. I did not put my money in anyway.
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January 5, 2018 at 11:35 am
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Mariette Ashford
May 3, 2018 at 1:32 am
One wouldn’t really think much of this, all I really wanted to do was invest and be part of it but the way I was lied by this brokers was terrible, to easily take money from all in the name of investment and when I wanted to make withdrawals every single attempt was fruitless with constant hassle to invest more I really can’t say more than I have already said. I would really consider myself to be one of the very few lucky ones as I was able to have my funds recovered from this scam Binary option brokers, although it was through unethical means as far I am concerned but what can I care after how my hard-earned funds where taken from me, these guys are the best in less than 7days all my funds including bonuses had been recovered, If your broker lost your funds trading Binary options Geminihacks.com are more than able to get your funds back without any traces best of luck people.
Chui
October 27, 2018 at 12:13 pm
There are tons of scams all over the internet and in person. I have been in this situation, after falling for the rampant investment scam scourging everywhere. I was devastated but got referred to a firm that helped out to get over 1million HKD back from them.
You can reach out to the consultant who helped
maxgale08 atgeemail dotcom
Jaxia Quest
January 20, 2019 at 1:40 am
So glad I am never going to travel to China. But still nice to know, so I can watch out for scammers here in the states and online.
MT
June 12, 2019 at 10:28 am
Recently I met a Chinese lady in Tinder. She seems to be nice and we chatted for quite some time (almost 1 week). She seems very genuine, telling about her life, what she do, her struggles..etc. She send picture of herself and say we both get along well. Unknowingly along the line she did mention about investing on stocks & forex, even show me her statement how much she earn from it. She said her cousin are financial expert and the one that give the tip to her. I find it bit odd but I believe at first. Now after 1 week of nice chatting, the critical point question came in. She said since she making so much, she can help me. Why don’t I setup an account (she gave me a link) and when she receive latest news then I can follow to buy in. Let’s make money together…
I am typically very careful with all these things, especially when it comes to money. What I am so sad was that I thought I would have a nice lady as a friend (or maybe more) but my defense instinct kicks in pretty quick when she mention about the investment. I am sad cos I invested my time to chat with her not knowing is all a SCAM! 🙁
San
September 3, 2019 at 3:32 pm
One of my nephews was applying to China for further studies and guy name Lee W. Yong was contacted. He promised that he can get him in to well reputed university, Peking University, with monthly stipends and scholarship. He had put his advertising in WeChat. He called his company China Student Consulting.
Then he starts to demand money for the process. His parents transferred the money with the hope for their son’s better future.
Once they sent him all the demanded fee, he started to beg for more. He said the customs office is asking money to send the documents. You could tell that he was lying. Once his family started to demand for proof of their son’s admission. He would argue that everything is ready to ship and waiting for demanded extra money. So far he took 6300RMB. And when his parent admanantly asked for proof, he blocked them in WeChat account. Now he is out of reach enjoying his loot of somebody’s hard earned money.