alert! Tempting advertisements are actually traps, and high-paying recruitment turns into a car rental trap

"If you drive the car, the money will come." This is the slogan of a logistics company in Jiading, Shanghai, when recruiting freight drivers. In response to this sentence, Mr. Shen, the truck driver, worked for six hours and received only 140 yuan, which was far from the high salary promised by the company. When Mr. Shen wanted to quit, he found that he had to pay more than 20,000 yuan.

"If you drive the car, the money will come."

Tempting ads are actually traps

In March this year, Mr. Shen saw an advertisement for a freight driver on a recruitment website. The company would provide a car and provide accommodation. The company could earn about 800 yuan a day and a monthly income of over 10,000 yuan. Attracted by the favorable conditions, Mr. Shen came to the company to apply for the job the next day. The on-site salesperson proposed that if you want to use the company's car, you need to pay the rent first, plus the deposit, information service fees, etc., which totals 11,300 yuan.

The day after the formalities were completed, the company dispatched its first order: 140 barrels of drinking water from Minhang District, Shanghai to Songjiang District.

Mr. Shen, the deceived driver: I went there at seven o'clock. After loading, I sent him over and had someone unload it. At one o'clock in the afternoon, he gave me 140 yuan. Loading and unloading four thousand kilograms was exhausting both physically and mentally.

Such work intensity and benefits are obviously inconsistent with the company's promises. Mr. Shen returned to the company to negotiate, but the other party took out the contract that Mr. Shen had just signed. Among the dozen or so clauses, not one of them stated the work content. If you propose to terminate the contract at this time, the more than 10,000 yuan previously paid will not be refunded, and an additional 14,190 yuan in liquidated damages will have to be paid.

I was tired for most of the day and only earned 140 yuan, which was far from the promised daily income of 800 yuan. If I continued to work, I would have to pay the company 4,300 yuan in car rental fees every month. Mr. Shen found that not only would he lose money in the long run, but his health would also be overwhelmed, so he had no choice but to quit with a loss of more than 25,000 yuan.

Mr. Shen, the deceived driver: The money was deducted from the Alipay account and has been bound to my bank card. There is nothing I can do about it.

After receiving the relevant report, the Shanghai Jiading police found through preliminary investigation that the logistics company had a store, a business license, and a formal contract. When the driver came to ask for a refund, the other party showed the terms of the contract and deducted not more than a penny. When the police are dispatched for the first time, they can only mediate a refund dispute.

Xu Jie, a police officer from the Jianbang Police Station of the Jiading Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau: After understanding the situation at the scene, it was that the rental driver could no longer work and needed to return the car, but the company required him to deduct his deposit on the grounds of breach of contract. If the company can produce its formal contract, our police will handle it as a refund dispute and mediate on the spot.

However, the police soon discovered that Mr. Shen’s experience was not an isolated incident. There were many similar police incidents during the same period and in the same jurisdiction.

Xu Jie: Through the police feedback, the techniques and routines are relatively consistent. We feel that there may be a little bit of routines or tricks in it.

The police combed through multiple police cases and found that the clues all pointed to the same logistics company named "Jie Lu Xing". At the beginning, the police visited many parties involved, but could not find out the specific situation of this company.

Zhu Qi, Captain of the Fifth Team of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Jiading Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau: After the return visit, I found that there were four people, two of whom went for interviews, and the other two who felt there was a problem after making the phone call did not go. The company "Jie Lu Xing" is also associated with the names of many companies. Through police screening, a company on Shanghai Bao'an Highway was finally targeted.

The police on-site investigation found that the store sign did not say "Jie Lu Xing" but "Zhuang Duo Duo". At the same time, the payee of the driver's scan code payment was a third company.

Zhu Qi: One is a vest that specializes in "draining traffic" online. It has a signboard offline called "Zhuangduoduo", but the payment certificate is from another "jacket" company. The purpose is to confuse some people who report the crime. The reporter can't get some evidence. If the reporter only remembers the name, it will be difficult for the police to track the real one.

Three names and three companies are actually controlled by the same person. The police found out that all three companies were registered and operated by Du. After peeling back the layers of the shell, the police discovered that the company's capital flow was indeed abnormal.

Zhu Qi: They claim to be a logistics company, but they don’t have any logistics revenue. At the same time, the refund rate is more than 80%. This is definitely a problem.

The police also explained that the 140 yuan mentioned by Mr. Shen was the single freight fee paid by the company to the driver after dispatching the order, and was not the company's own income from undertaking logistics business. The police investigation found that although the company claimed to be a logistics company, its main funds came from the rental fees, deposits and liquidated damages paid by drivers.

No actual logistics business

Layers of tricks lay job traps

The police further verified that this company had no real freight funds since it opened its account in August 2025. Most rental vehicles are rented out at low prices. So how does an online job advertisement lure job seekers into a trap step by step?

The police discovered that this recruitment fraud gang had set up multiple routines to deceive job seekers. First, they placed advertisements in batches on the recruitment platform, under the banner of "Easy monthly income of over 10,000 yuan", claiming to have long-term cooperation with large supermarkets and stable sources of orders, and downloaded some regular warehouse photos from the Internet to "drain traffic".

Chen Jian, Inspector of the Fifth Team of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Jiading Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau: These photos were photos of the warehouse environment that the suspect showed to the job seekers at the time. In fact, these warehouses had no cooperative relationship with the suspect's company.

Yu Zemin, deputy captain of the first team of the fifth detachment of the Criminal Investigation Corps of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau: When most people look at job advertisements, the core point is how much the salary is. In fact, many job seekers can endure hardships and sacrifice in order to earn money. Their focus is on salary, so when this group advertises recruitment, the salary is particularly high.

The internet talks about "recruiting drivers", but when job seekers arrive at the company, what they are induced to sign turns into a car rental contract.

Yu Zemin: When "recruiting drivers" online, it gives the impression that there is a company that can hire me, and I also pay five insurances and one housing fund. But when I go offline, it becomes a rental car, which is equivalent to some risks being borne by the driver, and it becomes the driver's own risk.

Zhu Qi: They have a dedicated team, and there are talkers who "brainwash" people, telling you that you can get a monthly income of 15,000 by renting a car. If you don't rent a car, you can't get this income.

From "the company hires you" to "you rent the company's car", in this sentence, the direction of funds is completely reversed: instead of the company paying wages, the driver pays the company first. When signing the contract, all the promises of making money remained verbal.

Yu Zemin: He will only tell you face to face, but it will not be included in the documents. Instead, it will be those things that require compensation and restrictions, such as the hard rent deposit. After a breach of contract and the contract is not completed for three months, the amount of compensation will be included in the documents.

Most drivers will soon find that the difference between their income and expectations is too large and they will want to quit. This is exactly what the fraud gangs want to see.

Zhu Qi: At this time, the driver went to discuss with the company offline whether he could return the car, and then the company took out the contract. According to the contract, if the time is not expired, it is a breach of contract, and the deposit will be deducted and liquidated damages will be paid.

The police found out that the vehicles and sporadic dispatches provided by the company were actually props for the final profit, with the purpose of deducting a large amount of money when the driver asked to quit.

Zhu Qi: The liquidated damages are 7,000 to 8,000 yuan, and the deposit is 5,000 to 6,000 yuan. He is doing this for the last part, because they know that the driver will definitely not be able to hold on within a month. The refund team is all made up of big and thick men. He will bring you into a small office, lean against you, contradict you, stare at you, and scold you. Ordinary job seekers will be afraid and will accept the breach of contract.

On March 31, the Jiading police in Shanghai launched a centralized operation and arrested multiple suspects at the company site.

Zhu Qi: When I entered the site, I found that the first row was the "attraction" group. They were sitting in a row. Everyone had accounts such as 58.com and BOSS Direct Recruitment in their hands to publish "attraction" advertisements. When I entered the company, I happened to see someone looking for a job and someone applying for a refund.

Looking for a driver: The high salary is say 13,000 yuan a month, and you can take four days off after completing the job.

So far, the police have identified more than 70 drivers who were deceived, and the amount involved was more than 3 million yuan. 18 criminal suspects have been subject to criminal compulsory measures in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.

The police remind that this type of recruitment fraud company has a business location and carries out physical operations. Job seekers should be extra vigilant and screen from multiple angles when facing low-threshold and high-paying positions.

Zhu Qi: We obviously came here to sign an employment contract and it was an employment relationship, but in the end we signed a car rental contract.

Yu Zemin: First of all, you must find formal job hunting channels. Many advertisements advertise high salaries and zero thresholds. At this time, you should pay attention. There is no such thing as pie in the sky. When signing a contract, you must carefully check the contract, especially whether some rhetoric and inductive language are reflected in the contract.