During the May Day mini-break, many Hong Kong residents traveled to the mainland. Some discovered official warnings at the Luohu Port, reminding tourists to beware of scams by the “shoe-wiping gang.”
According to reports from Hong Kong media, a netizen posted on the social platform Xiaohongbook, claiming to have seen a sign at Luohu Port stating, “This kind of shoe oil, only selling for 2.9 yuan on online platforms! Beware of being deceived!” The slogan even included a screenshot of an online platform selling shoe oil products, prompting netizens to exclaim, “This sign at Luohu Port is unbelievable!”
The “shoe-wiping gang” typically operates in pairs, targeting individuals and suddenly kneeling to shine their shoes, with the real intention being to sell expensive cleaning agents.
Netizens revealed that these scammers often appear at popular tourist destinations for Hong Kong residents heading north. Such places include Beijing Road Pedestrian Street in Guangzhou, Wanxiang Tiandi, and even the lobby of Hong Kong University Hospital. Some netizens shared, “I remember the shoe-wiping gang once sold three bottles for 120 yuan,” “They set exorbitant prices, even daring to ask for 99 yuan per bottle.”
As early as 2023, media had reported on the shoe-wiping gang scam.
According to reports, in that year, a Hong Kong resident encountered a similar situation in a coffee shop in a Shenzhen shopping mall, where a young man forcibly wiped one shoe for a customer and then proceeded to sell cleaning agents, pricing them between 60 to 100 yuan per bottle, using tactics like “buy one get one free” to pressure buyers. Netizens pointed out that the same cleaning agent was sold online for just over 10 yuan on platforms like Taobao, accusing the scammers of using tactics like squatting to shine shoes and offering enthusiastic but free services to engage in “moral coercion.”
Netizens summarized that the “shoe-wiping gang” has two major characteristics: firstly, they are usually between the ages of 21 and 30, often claiming to be “college students starting a business” or “working part-time”; and secondly, they carry a large backpack filled with cleaning agents wherever they go.