In recent years, the corrupt marriage agency industry has been on the rise in mainland China, forming a complete grey industry chain from online lead generation, offline brainwashing and inducement, money laundering through “killing deals,” to post-sale threats, commonly known as the “marriage agency scam.” According to reports, there are nearly 50 victims within a rights protection group, involving amounts of up to several million yuan.
One of the victims, Ms. Sun, was reported by the Blue Whale News on December 18th to have been induced to sign contracts with two marriage and dating companies controlled by the same group, resulting in losses of up to 200,000 yuan.
Ms. Sun explained that she initially received private messages from the marriage agency’s lead account on social media and was gradually lured into the scam.
According to Ms. Sun, the first step in the process of the marriage agency was to view the client’s phone under the guise of “matching needs,” focusing on exploring financial information such as Sesame Credit scores, salary flows, and consumption records to grasp the client’s economic situation. Then, based on the client’s payment ability and level of anxiety, they determined the standards to be sold, ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of yuan.
The second step involved the matchmaker using phrases such as “all-inclusive wedding,” “many high-quality male guests,” “80%-90% of the fees can be refunded after marriage,” and “there are male guests behind to help repay credit cards,” to induce clients to sign loan contracts. However, all of these promises were verbal.
Under the influence of such rhetoric, Ms. Sun signed loan contracts on the spot, maxed out multiple credit cards, but all the promised “exclusive customization” services fell through. The quality of the meeting candidates severely deviated from the prior publicity, with fewer than five individuals showing genuine intentions for blind dates, including an obvious suspicion of “marriage beards.”
However, when customers requested refunds citing “poor service” or “unsuccessful outcomes,” the company would refuse under the pretext of “services already provided.” The matchmaker would even promise that the second contract signing “as long as you get married, you can combine two contracts and get an 80% refund,” tempting them to sign again.
There have been cases where customers regretted signing the contract the next day and requested a refund, only to be stonewalled with various excuses, failing to receive a refund. Some customers faced multiple visits from unidentified men who “surveilled” and verbally threatened them after seeking legal recourse. Ms. Sun’s work was also greatly affected, and she was even summoned by the company for resignation.
According to reports, the two marriage agencies Ms. Sun signed contracts with were Shanghai Jinxijiaren Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd and Shanghai Xiyueyishengzhiyue Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd. Currently, the marriage agency has changed its shell under the same operating address, with the new company’s operational entity being Liangyuan Jia’ou.
Interviewees, including Ms. Sun, indicated that these marriage agencies attempted to evade supervision and legal responsibilities by frequently changing the registered company entities. However, substantively, from online leads to customer service interactions to offline “matchmaker” sales, the operating teams were always the same group of people.
Tianyancha data shows that Jinxijiaren was established on May 27, 2024, with Chen Lin as the legal representative, and Xiyueyisheng was established on April 1, 2024, with Sun Ge as the legal representative. Currently, both companies have multiple risk warnings including abnormal operations and enforcement actions, involving nearly 50 judicial cases, all of which are marriage contract disputes without exception.