Exposing New Variants of Recruitment Fraud: SMS 'Traffic Generation' and High-Priced 'Job Buying' Traps

Recruitment season has arrived, bringing with it a surge of job scams targeting fresh graduates. Recent cases have exposed a disturbing trend in employment fraud, ranging from SMS-based "traffic generation" to schemes promising high-paying "insider" job placements. In one case from September 2025, a suspect named Cheng organized a group to obtain customer phone numbers and "recruitment scripts." Posing as corporate recruiters, they sent mass text messages claiming "your resume has passed screening" to induce victims to provide personal information. For each valid email address obtained, Cheng received payment from his upper-level criminal contacts. The group sent a total of 43,000 fraudulent recruitment text messages and illegally profited over 100,000 yuan. Cheng was arrested in December 2025 after victims reported the scam. The Shanghai Minhang People's Court ruled that Cheng's actions constituted the crime of illegally using information networks, as his group was essentially "paving the way" for larger fraud operations. Cheng was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for one year, and fined 20,000 yuan. Meanwhile, another prevalent scam involves social media accounts posing as "career advisors" who claim to have "insider connections" at state-owned enterprises. One intermediary quoted prices ranging from 130,000 to 500,000 yuan, promising "guaranteed employment" at power bureaus and tobacco companies. Another promised a position at Shandong Shuifa Talent Development Group for 130,000 yuan, claiming there would be no written exam and the interview would be a mere formality. However, the company explicitly stated this was fraud. "We are a provincial state-owned enterprise and would never have such internal referral positions," said a company representative. "All recruitment is published through official channels." These scams have formed a complete black industry chain: first, fraudsters use fake job postings to collect personal information; second, they screen victims for susceptibility; third, they demand various fees under different pretexts. Job seekers must verify all recruitment information through official channels, never trust "insider connections," and report suspicious activities immediately to anti-fraud hotlines.