After seeing a high-paying recruitment message for live broadcast operators, job seekers went to apply for the job with high expectations, but were told that they had to rent a designated house to join the job. Only half a month after joining the company, some job seekers were dismissed by the company on the grounds of "insufficient ability" and "poor live broadcast data." Not only were their jobs lost, but the rental deposit and agency fees were also difficult to recover.
This situation is not unique. Recently, the People's Court of Qiantang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province concluded a criminal case that targeted workers in new forms of employment for fraud. The case clarified that "recruitment-derived housing rental" fraud that requires workers to rent designated housing for the purpose of illegal possession before they join the job, and then quickly dismisses them after joining the job to defraud deposits and agency fees will face criminal penalties.
In May 2022, Wang Moumou used other people's identity information to register a cultural media company. Since June 2022, Wang Moumou and others have committed fraud against job seekers applying for live broadcast operation positions. Wang Moumou first denies the live broadcast and housing listings chosen by the job seeker on the grounds of being far away from the company, and then induces the job seeker to rent a designated house from the "landlord" played by his friend Zhang Mou, and pay agency fees to the "agent" played by his friend Ma Moumou. The rental contract involved in the case also stipulated that "the deposit will not be refunded before the lease period expires."
However, most job seekers are dismissed by the company due to lack of ability after working for about half a month. Some job seekers have to terminate the rental agreement in advance and find it difficult to get back the deposit and agency fees. From June 2022 to August of the same year, 17 victims were defrauded by Wang Moumou through the above-mentioned means, and the deposits and intermediary fees involved in the case totaled more than 130,000 yuan. In February 2025, Wang Moumou was captured and brought to justice.
Is asking employees to rent a house for the purpose of recruitment a normal employment management and leasing act, or is it suspected of fraud? The People's Court of Qiantang District, Hangzhou held after trial that Wang Moumou subjectively used the illegal possession for the purpose of illegal possession, objectively fabricated the fact that he needed to rent a room that met the requirements for employment, and fabricated reasons to dismiss workers at will, causing multiple workers to suffer property losses and defrauding huge amounts. His behavior constituted the crime of fraud. After Wang Moumou came to the case, he confessed, withdrew his illegal gains, obtained forgiveness from some victims, and voluntarily confessed and accepted punishment. The court gave him a lighter punishment and may apply for probation.
Accordingly, the court made a judgment in accordance with the law and sentenced Wang Moumou, the person in charge of a company, to 3 years in prison for fraud, suspended for 4 years, and fined 30,000 yuan. The illegal gains on record were recovered and returned to the victims in accordance with the law. The judgment in this case is now effective.
"Such fraud often uses legally registered enterprises as a 'shell' and sets unreasonable requirements such as 'renting a designated house before joining the job.'" Zhang Chao, deputy director of the Criminal Tribunal of the People's Court of Qiantang District, Hangzhou, said that some young people who have just entered society and are eager to find a job are prone to relax their vigilance in the face of special requirements put forward by employers for fear of missing out on employment opportunities.
Zhang Chao reminds job seekers that when they encounter requirements such as renting a house and paying fees before joining the job, they should carefully verify their reasonableness, paying particular attention to issues such as whether the house must be designated by the company, whether the rent is significantly higher than the market price, and whether the contract terms are fair. At the same time, pay attention to retaining evidence such as recruitment information, chat records, rental contracts, and payment vouchers. Once you find that the company has fired employees at will, the person in charge has lost contact, or there is an obvious connection between the landlord, intermediary, and the recruitment company, you should report the case to the public security agency in a timely manner and protect your rights and interests in accordance with the law.
