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Chapter 2651 Low-Level Scam

Since that CCTV program aired, Tianchao Group's recruitment hotline has been inundated with calls.

The landlines in the human resources department rang from morning till night, and the young women answering the phones went through a series of hoarse voices.

Several boxes of caller ID forms were used up so quickly that the logistics department urgently transferred two new boxes from the warehouse and sent them up.

Job applications from all over the country were filling several large sacks in the mailroom. Some of the envelopes were addressed to "Beijing Tianchao Group" without even a specific address, yet the nearby postman still delivered them accurately.

Because so much mail is delivered to the Tianchao Group every day from this neighborhood, the postman knows exactly where to deliver it even with his eyes closed.

This job-hunting frenzy came so suddenly and intensely that some astute individuals immediately sensed the potential for profit.

It all started at the entrance of a talent market in a southern city, where someone set up a folding table and hung a handwritten sign that read "Designated Registration Point for Tianchao Group".

Behind the table sat two young men in cheap suits, one in charge of collecting money and the other in charge of registering it.

"What's your name?" the young man in charge of registration asked without looking up.

"Zhang Jianxing".

"age?"

"twenty one."

"Education?"

"high school."

"Okay, pay the 200 yuan registration fee. Go back and wait for our notification. We'll call you to let you know the interview time."

The person paying took a receipt without even an official seal, looked at it, and cautiously asked, "Is this... guaranteed to get in?"

The person in charge of collecting the money looked up and said impatiently, "Don't worry, we are the designated agents of Tianchao Group. We will recommend those who have paid, and they will definitely be given priority in the recruitment."

"Thank you! Please don't misunderstand! I just asked casually."

"Hmph! Once you've paid, hurry up and leave! Next one."

People lined up for ages to sign up, and some even traveled from out of town by train, squatting by the roadside all night with their bedding, afraid of missing this opportunity to join the Tianchao Group.

They held crumpled banknotes in their hands, some pulled from their inner pockets, others from the innermost layer of their bedding rolls. They counted them out one by one and handed them over, receiving in return a receipt without any stamp.

They carefully tucked the receipt into their pockets, feeling that the matter was already half settled.

However, they didn't realize that this was a rather clumsy scam.

I have absolutely no understanding of the companies under the Tianchao Group, otherwise I wouldn't have been so foolish as to be deceived.

However, this scam model is virtually costless to replicate.

Soon, several “Tianchao Group Recruitment Offices” sprang up overnight near train stations and job markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Wuhan.

Some rented proper storefronts, hung banners and put up roll-up banners at the entrance, with the words "Official Designated Recruitment Point of Tianchao Group" printed on them.

Some vendors simply put up an advertising board with the Tianchao Group logo on their roadside stalls, set up a small table next to it, and started collecting money.

Some bolder ones placed advertisements directly in the newspapers, with very intimidating copy: "Celestial Empire Group is recruiting directly, guaranteed interview, limited spots available, first come first served."

Agency fees range from two hundred to five hundred yuan, and some even dare to charge over a thousand yuan.

They also broke down the prices into various tiers: "500 for a regular position," "800 for a guaranteed interview," "1200 for a good position," and "2000 for a position at the Beijing headquarters."

Some rural parents, whose families are poor but hope their sons will succeed, would hand over the money they had saved from selling grain to intermediaries in exchange for a receipt with barely any words written on it. They would then go back and tell everyone they met, "My son is going to work for Tianchao Group."

They never imagined it would be an elaborate scam; they were all just willingly walking into a trap to be fleeced.

Some even held a banquet in advance to celebrate with the whole village, but after the meal was eaten and the money was spent, the notification never came.

……

The first to notice something amiss were the sales team of Tianchao Auto stationed in Shandong.

One distributor casually asked his regional manager over the phone, "Has headquarters recently commissioned any recruitment agency? Several young men here said they paid and registered, but haven't received any notification yet. They come to my store every day to ask."

The regional manager was taken aback. "I've never heard of headquarters commissioning any agents. In China, we never use intermediaries for recruitment; we deal directly with schools in various regions."

The distributor said, "But the receipts my guys have are stamped with the Tianchao Group's seal. Could you ask them for me?"

The regional manager immediately sensed something was wrong and reported the news to headquarters.

Subsequently, dealers in other provinces also reported similar situations.

The news was quickly gathered and reached the desk of Li Hui, the public relations director. Li Hui immediately arranged for the public relations department to send several people to conduct undercover investigations in various places.

The undercover investigators posed as job seekers and visited "recruitment offices" in several cities.

When they returned, they gave Li Hui a stack of receipts and contracts, all of which had fake official seals, some of which didn't even have seals.

Li Hui flipped through the pages one by one, his expression growing increasingly grim with each reading.

Some of them are stamped with the seal of "Human Resources Department of Tianchao Group", but the Human Resources Department of Tianchao Group never uses this oval-shaped seal.

Some contracts misspelled "Celestial Empire" as "Heavenly Nest," such an obvious typo that no one noticed.

When Li Hui walked into Suning's office with these materials, his face was quite grim.

He placed a stack of forged recruitment notices on Su Ning's desk: "President Su, something's happened again. There are now recruitment agencies impersonating us in many parts of the country, committing fraud. These people are using the name of Tianchao Group to swindle money, charging registration fees, referral fees, and deposits, ranging from two hundred to two thousand yuan."

"..." Su Ning picked up the forged job posting and flipped through it.

Li Hui continued, "They're swindling ordinary people out of their hard-earned money. Some people have emptied their entire year's income from farming just to buy their sons a chance to join Tianchao Group. What I'm worried about is that if this gets out, it will severely damage our reputation. Those who have been swindled don't even know they've been cheated yet; they're still waiting for notification. If they don't receive it, they'll come looking for us. Then they'll say that Tianchao Group took their money and didn't deliver."

Su Ning put down the forged recruitment notices, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the number of a leader in the Ministry of Public Security. "Sir, I have something to discuss with you beforehand," Su Ning said directly. "Currently, there are numerous cases across the country of recruitment scams impersonating Tianchao Group. The number of victims is still being tallied, but the impact is already widespread. Tianchao Group has never entrusted any recruitment agencies, nor has it collected a single penny in application fees. This behavior not only defrauds ordinary people of their money but also constitutes substantial damage to our business reputation. I hope the public security authorities can intervene and investigate as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, Mr. Su! We'll get right on it. The Economic Investigation Department is making arrangements overnight."

"Thank you! This incident is extremely serious, and our Celestial Empire will spare no effort to catch these swindlers."

"Understood! We will give Tianchao Group an explanation."

Then, with Suning personally overseeing the process, the efficiency changed completely.

The Ministry of Public Security's Economic Crime Investigation Department opened a case that same day and, in conjunction with public security organs in multiple provinces and cities, launched an overnight arrest operation.

The public security officials knew exactly what level of enterprise Tianchao Group was.

That was a typical example that CCTV had just reported on in a full-length special program, with an annual output value of tens of billions of yuan, and behind it was a string of well-known brands such as Mingju Real Estate, Tencent, and Alibaba.

The daily tax revenue is an alarming figure, not to mention that it affects the jobs of hundreds of thousands of employees.

The reputation of such a behemoth is not to be trifled with; for fraudsters to use its name to swindle people is challenging everyone's bottom line.

As a result, public security organs in multiple provinces coordinated their efforts and dismantled several gangs within a few days.

Many scammers were still counting money in their rented rooms when the police broke in. On the table were piles of fake receipts and fake official seals that had not yet been distributed, on the wall were fake recruitment posters of Tianchao Group, and on the floor were takeout boxes that had not yet been eaten.

When one of the gang leaders was arrested, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "We are legitimate intermediaries! We have contracts!"

The police found several fake official seals from different organizations in the drawer and lined them up on the table. "Come on, tell me, which one is the real one?"

"..." The leader stared at the row of fake official seals and fell silent, bowing his head and remaining quiet.

"You guys are really bold! You actually impersonated intermediaries from the Tianchao Group to swindle money."

"Hmph! So what if it's the Celestial Empire Group? They still have loopholes for us to exploit."

"Since you're so capable, then save your skills for debating with the judge!"

"..."

Another gang rented a storefront near the train station and put it up quite professionally, with people queuing up outside that stretched all the way to the roadside.

When the police car arrived, the job seekers in line were unaware of what was happening and craned their necks to look ahead.

Several plainclothes officers entered the store, showed their badges, and took control of the people inside, while the people queuing outside continued to wait.

A middle-aged man carrying a roll of bedding, who had come all the way from Hebei, squeezed to the front and asked, "What's going on? Are you not registering today?"

The police officer said, "This agency is fake; they are scammers."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. "Fake? That can't be! Several people from my village have registered with them."

The police officer pointed to the fake poster on the door. "Look at that stamp. Would the official seal of Tianchao Group be stamped like this? Even if it were carved from a radish, it wouldn't look like this. How much money did you pay this time?"

"Six hundred." The middle-aged man pulled the crumpled receipt from his pocket, his hands trembling.

The receipt had a few words scrawled on it: "Internal referral fee for Tianchao Group, received 600 yuan," but it didn't even have a proper financial stamp.

The police officer took the receipt, glanced at it, and couldn't help but sigh. "This receipt can't be used as evidence in court. Go to the police station to make a statement and explain the situation clearly. We'll notify you if there's any news about recovering the stolen goods."

The middle-aged man stood there looking at the receipt repeatedly, then suddenly squatted down by the roadside, covered his face with one hand, and couldn't speak for a long time.

……

After the police began their investigation and crackdown, Tianchao Group immediately released an official announcement through major media outlets.

Li Hui personally drafted the wording of the announcement, and Suning reviewed it again before signing it in approval.

The announcement was broadcast in full on CCTV's "Evening News" that evening, and was simultaneously published in major newspapers and portal websites across the country the following day.

The announcement reads as follows: "Recruitment matters for all subsidiaries of Tianchao Group are handled directly by the Group's Human Resources Department in contact with schools across the country. We have never entrusted any intermediary agencies to handle recruitment, nor do we charge job seekers any fees. Any act claiming to be an authorized agent of Tianchao Group and charging registration fees, referral fees, or deposits is a scam. The public is urged to be vigilant. If you have been scammed, please preserve all relevant evidence and report it to your local police immediately. Tianchao Group will pursue legal action against any individual or organization that impersonates us to engage in illegal activities, and will not tolerate such behavior."

After the program aired, the reporter randomly interviewed several citizens on the street who were discussing the matter.

An old man pointed to a newspaper with a police notice in it at a newsstand and said, "That's how it should be dealt with! Do you think it's easy for ordinary people to earn money? Two hundred yuan is nothing in the city, but in the countryside, that's the harvest of an acre of land."

A young woman standing nearby chimed in, "I also wanted to interview at Tianchao Group, but I called their HR department to verify. They told me they never had any intermediaries, so I didn't fall for it."

The newsstand owner, while handing out newspapers, interjected, "Everyone see this clearly! Tianchao Group always recruits directly from schools or through internal recruitment at technical schools. They never go through social recruitment. It's been so many years and people still believe in intermediaries... In the end, it's because they're too eager to get in. Scammers exploit this psychology; they know you're desperate to get in, so they'll believe anything you say."

……

At the same time, Tianchao Group also began a comprehensive investigation to see if any employees were involved in providing convenience for the scammers.

The human resources department reviewed the backgrounds of all current employees again, while the legal department began to file incidental civil lawsuits against several particularly egregious fraud gangs.

This isn't just a formality; we're seriously going to make them pay back money.

In the public relations department's follow-up public opinion briefing on the matter, Li Hui wrote four words in the "negative public opinion" column: "basically subsided."

After reading the report, Su Ning closed it and put it aside. He said to his new assistant, Xiao Tong, who was standing next to him, "Xiao Tong, pass on the instructions! In the future, add a lesson to the new employee onboarding training: how to identify various types of fraud."

"Understood." Xiao Tong nodded and wrote it down in his notebook.

Suning added, "Furthermore, inform the Human Resources Department that in the future, recruitment information will be updated not only through schools but also on the group's official website. This will give the public a place to check and prevent scammers from taking advantage of the situation."

Xiao Tong said, "Understood, I'll take care of it right away."

...(End of this chapter)