This summer, not even halfway through, at least seven students in mainland China have gone missing, lured into engaging in telecommunications fraud in Southeast Asia. The scammers are targeting teenagers with precision, causing concern as analysts believe this is not an individual tragedy but a societal malaise, indicating that the Chinese society has deteriorated to its core.
Reports from mainland China indicate that 20-year-old university student Li Yanhao from Henan, who was planning to work in Shangqiu during the summer break, was introduced by a “good elder brother” to earn money in Thailand, and has since gone missing.
In June, 18-year-old high school student Hu Yixiao from Hefei, Anhui, disappeared near the China-Myanmar border after flying from Nanjing to Xishuangbanna in Yunnan. Three high school students from Huanggang, Hubei, were lured to Xishuangbanna by a netizen under the guise of delivering rhinoceros horns, with their phone locations ultimately ending up north of Myanmar. 19-year-old Peng Yuxuan from Hanzhong, Shaanxi, went to Xi’an for summer work after finishing the college entrance exam, but was lured into a fraud ring in northern Myanmar, luckily was released recently.
On July 5th, 21-year-old university student Zhang Yuxi from Jining, Shandong, went to work in Beihai, Guangzhou for the summer, and the next day went missing. After his family received a ransom call, the police confirmed that he was taken to a fraud den in Cambodia.
In recent times, in Puning, Guangdong, two boys aged 14 and 16 were lured to Myanmar with the promise of “high-paying jobs” and demanded a ransom of 250,000 yuan. The 14-year-old boy has been rescued and returned to the country, while the other 16-year-old boy, Xiao Zheng, is still missing.
According to reports from mainland China, these fraud groups specifically target student groups, using lure tactics such as a monthly salary over ten thousand, reimbursement of travel expenses, and free outbound travel, only to later illegally detain and force them to participate in telecommunications fraud.
Fraudsters have begun targeting minors as their new prey. Netizens expressed their concerns, stating, “Even looking for jobs or internships has become a gateway to the social abyss for these children! It’s heartbreaking.” “Yes, the pressure on children is great nowadays. They want to help lighten the burden on their families, but end up sacrificing their lives, it’s really pitiful.” “Just stay at home, don’t be deceived and that’s fine.”
Wang Mingyi, a dissident who has been struggling in China for years, told Epoch Times reporters that when he worked in Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hainan, and other places, he encountered many student workers during summer vacation. They came from all over the country, mostly from families with economic difficulties. Their wages were lower than regular workers, and they ended up taking away opportunities from regular workers. When they encountered black factories, they worked for two months and it was difficult to get their wages back.
Wang Mingyi said, “Summer vacation is the only relaxation opportunity for students. If they are not economically difficult, who would be willing to sacrifice their holiday for a meager wage? In developed countries, children spend their holidays relaxing and playing. Resting well is essential for them to focus on their studies. However, the children at the bottom of the Chinese society have no time to relax, constantly struggling for exorbitant tuition fees and living expenses.”
“The Chinese Communist Party turns a blind eye to these issues. The main news broadcasts only brainwash the public, extolling how wealthy and powerful their country is, ruling through lies, leading the lower class to fight among themselves, sacrificing themselves for trivial gains,” he added.
Li Yuanhua, a former professor at Capital Normal University, said in an interview with Epoch Times that students working summer jobs reflect that the lower class in society lacks stability in their lives. Children who can’t rely on connections are forced by life to want to reduce the burden on their families. But the whole social environment does not provide corresponding positions for young people.
“University graduates can’t find jobs, and the entire economic environment is not favorable. Scams are rampant throughout China, with scam techniques constantly being innovated. These children have limited social experience and poor self-protection skills. Despite young people wanting to work hard, they are actually unable to get opportunities,” he explained.
Le Kai’an, a dissident from Jiangsu, stated in an interview with Epoch Times that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. Nowadays in China, the job market is no longer a bridge, but a barrier. The number of college graduates hits record highs every year, and the competition for young employment is fierce as an arena. Young people brainwashed into “flexible employment” are reduced to gray laborers – part-time workers without security. Furthermore, in the face of unemployment, trickery, and disappearances, authorities’ response is not responsible but silence.
He believes that “working means sacrificing life” is not an individual tragedy but a societal malaise. It is supposed to be normal for a student to earn some living expenses, pay for education, and support their families during the holidays. However, under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, it has become high-risk operations — inadvertently falling into the hands of “black intermediaries,” being sold into factory hell, being detained by fraud groups, or even vanishing without a trace.
Le Kai’an emphasized that these children at the bottom of society have no resources, background, or protection behind them. Once they step out of the campus, even the basic safety of youth employment cannot be guaranteed. While the Chinese Communist Party heavily invests in stability maintenance funds, surveillance cameras, and ideological censorship, they prefer children to attend political ideology classes, sing revolutionary songs, recite the party line, rather than teaching them how to identify scams and protect themselves.
Yu Qi, a professor at National Taiwan University, informed Epoch Times reporters that young people from Taiwan have also fallen victim to scams in Myanmar. Some have been rescued through certain channels, but others have not been able to return. Myanmar has many former gang members from mainland China, and these fraud camps resemble concentration camps in terms of their operations.
Yu Qi pointed out that it’s not that work cannot be found in Taiwan, but recent university graduates are looking for better-paying jobs. Fraudsters have many persuasive tactics to lure victims in, sometimes through their friends. Some Taiwanese university or high school students have been deceived and taken there, experiencing abuse, having their phones confiscated, making it difficult for them to establish contact with the outside world.
“We negotiate with some Taiwanese locals in Myanmar or Taiwanese doing business there who are familiar with the heads and leaders of the fraud camps, exchanging money to ransom these individuals. After several negotiations, we pay the ransom and get the person back,” she described.
She stated that scammers not only target young people but also older individuals. In Taiwan, anti-fraud advocacy is very active, with bank counter staff specially trained. If they detect transactions resembling fraudulent schemes involving large sums of money, they will dissuade or report them, emphasizing the importance of the frontline.
However, contrastingly, the so-called anti-fraud app in mainland China, as previously reported by Epoch Times, is a mandatory installation for users that actually functions as surveillance software.
In recent years, Myanmar’s fraud groups have repeatedly been exposed, such as the “actor Wang Xing sold to Myanmar fraud camp incident,” sparking social attention. Despite these revelations, fraud groups remain rampant.
As previously reported by Epoch Times, the shadow of China’s public security department lurks behind Myanmar’s fraud groups and is protected by the influence of the Chinese Communist Party.
Li Yuanhua believes that the core of the Chinese Communist Party’s thinking has always been to ensure that everyone grows in society, stays loyal to the party, and does not dissent. Government departments, including public security, justice, and law enforcement, either seek benefits from criminals, collecting protection fees, or ignore matters that are within their scope of duty if there is no personal gain to be had.
“The whole society is not normal. Nothing gets done down below without money. The entire society lacks morals, dares to do all kinds of evil deeds, has decayed to its roots, and will eventually collapse,” he concluded.