“No experience needed, high pay, daily wages, flexible hours,” reads an online part-time job ad targeting young job seekers in China — perfect for fresh graduates and university students. The catch? Shelling out thousands of yuan for “training.”

In an investigation published Sunday by state broadcaster CCTV, more than 40 job seekers had fallen victim to a scam advertising part-time roles at a company in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan province.

An undercover reporter found that they had all signed contracts agreeing to participate in expensive “training” prior to starting work, ensnaring them in a closed-loop system of employer, training provider, financing intermediary, and debt collector — all controlled by a single entity: Shandong Zeyi Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd.

One victim, going by the name Xiaoru, reported being drawn to a similar ad but for a part-time illustration job that promised “no experience necessary and high pay.” However, upon joining, she was required to undergo training and take out an installment loan of 8,380 yuan ($1,178). The training proved worthless, and the commissions she received ultimately paid only a few yuan.

Guoguo, another job seeker, was similarly lured by a job ad for a part-time voiceover position on a short-video platform, part of the same scam. After signing up for a 5,980 yuan training loan, she discovered the job actually involved working as a “chat host” in livestreaming rooms, where she frequently faced harassment. But, just like Xiaoru, when she requested to withdraw from the course, she was asked to pay a 1,400 yuan penalty.

While the companies offering these jobs appear unrelated from the outside, an intermediary known as Yunshangquan was found to be at the center of creating and providing their training courses. Wu, a Yunshangquan executive, revealed to the undercover reporter that they supply video editing courses to the recruitment companies, who then sell them to job seekers for profit. From the 5,980 yuan paid by a job seeker for a course, Yunshangquan receives 10%.

Wu disclosed that regardless of whether trainees complete the training course or see through the scam and request to cancel, the company profits — either from the training fee or the pre-agreed cancellation penalty. It’s a “win-win” scheme, Wu said.

Another crucial player in the operation is Xueyifu, an intermediary that arranges “training fee installment payments” from job seekers, advancing the majority of the training fees directly to recruitment companies and allowing them to rapidly secure large sums of cash.

By gaining employment at the alleged architect of this industrial chain, Shandong Zeyi Industrial Investment Group Co., Ltd., the CCTV reporter discovered that the company owns both Xueyifu and a debt collection agency, forming a closed-loop system in which Shandong Zeyi reaps financial rewards from multiple intermediaries.

Shandong Zeyi further colludes with an arbitration institution to resolve disputes between employers and their employees, allowing the company to bypass the court system. Trainees who enter disputes are legally restricted to seeking resolution with the designated arbitration committee — in this case, the one partnered with Shandong Zeyi.

In an interview with CCTV, Li Jianfei, a law professor at Beijing’s Renmin University, commented on the scam, saying, “The entire chain is fabricated and is impermissible under labor law.”

When contacted by Sixth Tone on Wednesday, the Shandong Jinan High-Tech Industrial Development Zone police department said that the case was “under investigation” by a special committee, but declined to provide specifics.

Additional reporting: Feng Jingyi; editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

 (Header image: Visuals from VCG, reedited by Sixth Tone)