Chapter 372 - 218 Fraudulent Company

Words : 1214 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chen Feng listened to the two women and roughly guessed the situation. It was nothing more than a scam to swindle money from job applicants. This kind of phenomenon has always existed. Those with a bit of conscience would only cheat a little registration fee, data fee, or file fee, ranging from tens to a couple hundred yuan. Don’t underestimate the tens or hundreds of yuan from one person; when there are many applicants, it’s common to easily make tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, after just a few days. Moreover, this is a long-term business. As long as recruitment ads are placed in newspapers and online, the investment is small, but the income is considerable. They can recruit year-round from the start of the year to the end, making long-term profits. For those with a darker heart, they would further demand all kinds of fees under various pretenses, such as training fees, clothing fees, and makeup fees. These easily add up to hundreds or thousands, making much more money. Of course, there’s also a probability issue. Generally speaking, for the tens and hundreds, those job seekers eager to find a job, especially those fresh graduates who are workplace rookies, would basically fall for it. After all, the money isn’t much, and if you don’t pay, surely there’d be no job. But if you pay, there’s a chance. However, when it comes to bigger money, several hundred or even thousands, generally job seekers wouldn’t all stupidly pay. After all, for ordinary applicants, this amount is a bit hefty, and they would hesitate. Most would give up. Trying to swindle such a large amount through simple recruitment means isn’t easy either. Thus, situations like model companies or cultural media companies recruiting models have emerged. They scam these young, naive girls by getting them to take model card photo shoots. This is based on the particularity of the modeling industry. In other fields, getting job seekers to pay that much would have a low success rate, but at modeling, the success rate is quite high. The so-called model card is a card with the model’s photo and basic information, like stage name, age, height, weight, measurements, shoe size, etc. For a model, this data card is indispensable. Without it, it’s hard to market oneself and take orders. You could get this model card done at an external photo studio for one or two hundred at most. But at these model companies, applicants pay a few thousand to even tens of thousands for a set. Many applicants are eager for the company to introduce modeling jobs to make money, plus some deceptive techniques from the company, and they get scammed. Of course, the company interviewing personnel, being part of the scam, also assesses the applicants. If they see you dressed plainly, maybe they’d snap your photos for a few hundred yuan. In some relatively ’formal’ companies, they even offer a few model card shooting packages, mainly at high, medium, and low tiers for you to choose from, dividing into indoor and outdoor categories, making it more open, transparent, and aboveboard. It’s like those willing to fall into a trap. If you claim you already have a model card, and it looks pretty good, it’s useless. Since they want to cheat you for the model card money, they wouldn’t accept it. Unless you don’t want to join their company and don’t need them to introduce modeling work, you must pay this money. Job seekers join their company and are willing to pay for the model card in the hope that the company can help in introducing modeling-related jobs. If it were indeed a legitimate model company on the other side, paying those thousands for the model card wouldn’t matter, as the company could introduce one or two big gigs that could earn the money back. The company also would certainly say this during the interview, tempting many girls to fall for it. Unfortunately, most model companies that charge such money aren’t legitimate. They just focus on scamming the model card money. They certainly won’t introduce jobs for models, or they won’t prioritize that. This deceitful tactic has been thriving in recent years. Many young girls, aspiring to model and make easy money, have fallen for it. The media haven’t properly exposed it; occasionally, there’s exposure online, but the impact is small. After all, relative to the public, the modeling industry is quite niche. Some even report it to the police, but it’s often ineffective. The reason is simple. From the start, it’s a ’fair, just, open’ transaction with the job seeker. The seeker pays, and the model company provides the ’photography service’. You were told the price beforehand, informed about what the model card would look like, so there’s no deceit in service, and the money is ’willingly’ paid by the job seekers. Moreover, before arranging the model card shoot, they usually have you sign a ’photography contract’. It’s very formal. Hence, it’s challenging for job seekers to legally win against model companies and retrieve their money. These companies have effective scam processes and emergency response plans. It’s basically a team operation, each with its role, and work in harmony. Here, they swindle as long as they can in this city. When there’s nothing more to scam or things get too big, they directly shut the company down and leave. The place gets vacated, they find a new location, and start a new company to continue the scam. This is the main reason why such scam tactics are still flourishing, thriving today. It’s quick money, and compared with other scam companies, their legal risks are relatively low. Now, these two women are causing a scene at this scam company. The middle-aged fat man, Gu Xin, is not afraid at all. He easily bluffed them with a few words, and this wasn’t the first time he encountered such matters. He didn’t even know how many times he had dealt with it before; he had a complete set of effective response plans and lines. Here he is, facing this stubborn girl, shaking his head, sighing with an air of seniority, "You young people, do you really think it’s so easy to find modeling work? Do you know how competitive this industry is? Besides, our company doesn’t just take any job; we select good and high-priced ones. Remember that who? Yes, Lin Wanqiu, your senior. Our company hooked her up with a print ad for Liya Cosmetics. It was just a set, shot over three days, and we got a thirty thousand reward. Not too much, mainly boosted her fame." Gu Xin spoke earnestly, honestly. His words immediately calmed the scene. Originally, many suspicious applicants began trusting this company again. Mainly because Gu Xin seemed earnest and sincere, showing no hint of lying, plus he provided an example. Could that be fake? The model Lin Wanqiu he mentioned wasn’t fake; she indeed exists. She indeed did a print ad for Yali Cosmetics. However, she was merely nominally affiliated with his company, which gave her a few thousand in naming rights fees. Externally, the company, while not directly promoting Lin Wanqiu, often mentioned her during interviews. Meanwhile, a room in the company displayed some of her photos and success stories.

Chapter 372 - 218 Fraudulent Company

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