Fake Overseas-Expansion Compliance Agencies Offering Overseas License Processing — Absconding After Collecting High Agency Fees

Who Gets Targeted

The main victims are small and medium-sized foreign trade business owners, cross-border e-commerce entrepreneurs, overseas job seekers, and heads of SMEs preparing to go global and urgently needing to obtain overseas qualifications. They are mostly aged 25-50, concentrated in South China (Guangzhou), Hong Kong, China, and coastal foreign trade cities. They generally lack common knowledge about overseas compliance and license applications, and because of business or visa needs are eager to obtain licenses, making them easy targets for phrases such as 'new policy window period', 'internal channels', 'guaranteed approval', and 'pay the balance after the license is issued'. Trusting so-called professional agencies out of a mentality of luck and seeking quick results, they lack awareness to verify scanned qualifications and forged acceptance receipts. The form of loss is that high agency fees, after being marked up layer by layer, cannot be refunded: according to a CCTV News app report on April 15, 2026, a Beijing intermediary company charged 19,800 yuan per person under the pretext of processing work procedures for Australia and New Zealand. It first collected a 3,000 yuan deposit, and after preliminary review, collected a 16,800 yuan balance. The case-handling authority found that the company had processed more than 500 clients, and the vast majority only received visa refusal letters from the embassy and had no way to obtain refunds (CCTV News app, 2026-04-15 notice).

骗局怎么运作

• Step 1: Riding the new policy hype. After the official release of the revised International Maritime Transportation Regulations or new policies such as Order No. 837, scammers immediately produce 'new policy interpretation' articles, claiming that during the 'compliance window period' certain overseas licenses must be obtained, such as yacht sailor certificates or labor export licenses, creating a sense of urgency. Pitches such as 'the new policy is out, places are limited, miss it and wait another year' induce targets to proactively inquire.
• Step 2: Packaging a fake compliance consulting agency. Scammers register shell companies, with domain names containing keywords such as 'compliance' and 'going overseas', display fake qualification certificates, license samples, and photos of lawyer teams on websites, and even forge official cooperation documents to create a professional and credible image. Some gangs also rent CBD offices and arrange 'consultants' for face-to-face reception to increase persuasiveness.
• Step 3: Promising 'all-inclusive' service and demanding high deposits. After initially gaining trust, they collect thousands to tens of thousands of yuan per person under labels such as 'material fees', 'guarantee fees', and 'expedited fees', promise to 'pay the balance after the license is issued', and issue forged acceptance receipts, while in fact having no official coordination channel. They also use 'Party A shall handle it itself' clauses in contracts to lay the groundwork for later evasion.
• Step 4: Stalling and creating the illusion of 'under review.' When victims press for progress, scammers use lines such as 'the policy is being refined', 'customs spot checks', and 'additional materials are required' to delay, during which they continue to extract money with 'expedited fees' until victims notice something is wrong or can no longer contact them. None of the so-called 'progress' has any officially verifiable path.
• Step 5: Disappearing after payment or reemerging under a new shell. After reaching a certain amount, scammers deregister the company, change mobile phone numbers and WeChat accounts, relocate, and continue defrauding under a new company name; naturally, the victims' 'licenses' can never be obtained. Because the amounts involved are dispersed and cross-regional, police investigation is difficult.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Official documents are all scanned copies, with no red-header letterhead or verifiable serial number;
• 🚩 Fees are required to be paid into personal accounts or third-party payment codes, rather than corporate accounts;
• 🚩 Claiming to have 'internal channels', 'guaranteed approval', or 'no full refund upon rejection', with vague contract terms;
• 🚩 The office address does not match the business registration address, or only online interviews are provided;
• 🚩 There are many fee categories, such as 'material fees', 'guarantee fees', and 'expedited fees', and they are constantly added;
• 🚩 They do not provide contact information of clients from successful cases for verification, only sending screenshots or making verbal promises.

真实案例

• The National College Student Employment Service Platform issued a warning exposing fraud in agency services for overseas labor: a fraudulent company posted ads saying 'easily earn tens of thousands a month abroad', collected registration and material fees, and then disappeared. In one case, a job seeker was required to pay 3,000 yuan as an 'overseas work permit agency fee', only to find the company had vanished.
• An institution in Guangzhou used Hong Kong's new yacht policy to set a 'sailor recruitment' trap, claiming it could process Hong Kong yacht sailor licenses and arrange high-paying jobs. After dozens of victims paid thousands to tens of thousands of yuan each, the institution disappeared, and the amount involved is suspected to exceed one million yuan. Police have launched an investigation.
• Jingbao.com reported that 399 people were defrauded. A cross-border telecom fraud gang disguised itself as professional 'rights-protection lawyers' and, under the pretext of helping recover overseas investment funds, collected 'legal document fees' and 'bail money', defrauding several million yuan in total. The gang impersonated compliance professionals; its methods are similar to license agency scams, all defrauding under a professional image.

Official Stance

• China Media Group (CCTV News Channel, 'Weekly Quality Report' program), 2026-08-02, released 'Uncovering the True Face of Fake Foreign Brands' (Source: https://tv.cctv.com/2026/08/02/VIDEqEGCxF9ijwFJkhCdOvZY260802.shtml)
• Jilin Provincial Public Security Department, 2026-08-19, released 'Beware of Making Quick Money Overseas Scams' (Source: https://gat.jl.gov.cn/jmhd/fzkt/202608/t20260819_3663381.html)

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify agency qualifications: check the company's registration information through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System and require genuine official authorization documents, not scanned copies. Also check the shareholder list and outbound investments, confirm that the company is in normal active status and has no abnormal operation registration, and take screenshots of the query page for retention.
• ✅ Insist on payment to corporate accounts: any request to transfer to a personal account or private payment QR code is high-risk; you can refuse and report it to market regulation authorities.
• ✅ Consult a licensed lawyer before signing: stay alert to clauses such as 'guaranteed approval' and 'no refunds' in contracts, and verify with a professional foreign-related lawyer or commerce department.
• ✅ Verify official channels: go directly to the official government websites of the target country or region to check the license application process and confirm whether any so-called 'agency fast track' exists.
• ✅ Preserve all evidence: including chat records, transfer receipts, and contract texts. Once anything abnormal is discovered, call the police immediately and contact the payment platform to freeze the funds.