Stop before you need to prove a scam
You do not need to decide whether conduct is legally fraud before you pause. One observable signal is enough to stop and verify independently.
The stranger controls the next location
- What you can observe
- A new acquaintance insists on one tea house, bar, massage venue, gallery or shop.
- Switch to
- Decline that venue. If you still want to socialise, choose a public place yourself and check prices first.
No clear total price
- What you can observe
- The menu, ride, service or ticket has no visible total before commitment.
- Switch to
- Do not order, board or confirm until the total and service are clear.
The vehicle is unmarked or unmetered
- What you can observe
- An airport or station tout leads away from the official taxi queue, or the car has no meter or tracked order.
- Switch to
- Use the official taxi queue, a hotel-arranged licensed service or a tracked ride-hailing order.
The payee is not who you expected
- What you can observe
- The payment screen shows a different person or business from the counter or booking.
- Switch to
- Cancel before confirming and ask the merchant to identify the account. Mismatch is a stop signal, not proof of fraud.
Authority plus urgency plus secrecy
- What you can observe
- A caller claims to be police, a bank or another authority and asks for money, a passport image or a verification code.
- Switch to
- End the call and reopen the organisation through an independently found official channel.
Current UK China travel advice records tea-tasting or massage invitations followed by large bills, threats or card fraud. It also warns about QR phishing and unmarked or unmetered taxis. That establishes useful patterns, not a national ranking of how often each event occurs.
Choose the channel from the incident
Police
- Use it when
- Threat, assault, confinement, theft, suspected crime, or money already lost to suspected fraud
- Not for
- A price question before any transaction or a routine refund request with no crime or danger
- First action
- Give the Chinese location, what happened, whether anyone is at risk and a callback number.
Anti-fraud warning and consultation
- Use it when
- Suspected telecom or internet fraud before loss, a warning call, or a fraud lead
- Not for
- Replacing a police report after money is gone, physical danger or a restaurant billing dispute
- First action
- Stop the transfer and ask about the suspected telecom or internet-fraud pattern.
Consumer complaint
- Use it when
- You are safe and have an ordinary dispute about price, goods or service
- Not for
- Emergency dispatch, threats, confinement or a guaranteed refund
- First action
- Use the national platform or local hotline with the merchant, time, amount and evidence.
Tourism complaint
- Use it when
- A travel agency, guide or package-tour service differs from the contract
- Not for
- Live police danger or an automatic refund
- First action
- File through the national tourism system; use local 12345 for an urgent market complaint.
96110 is not the after-loss police report
Police material gives 96110 three telecom and internet anti-fraud jobs: warning and dissuasion, consultation, and lead reporting. The same notice says that if a person has already lost money, they should preserve evidence and call 110 immediately.
No national source reviewed promises English or foreign-SIM access on 96110.
12315 is for an ordinary consumer dispute
The State Administration for Market Regulation directs consumer complaints to the national 12315 platform or local 12315. If a disputed bill becomes a threat or blocked exit, switch to 110.
Travel agency or guide dispute
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism required the 12301 and 12318 phone lines to merge into local 12345 by the end of 2021. Separately, the current national culture-and-tourism complaint system replaced the former online platforms. Under the current complaint measures, a tourism complaint generally must be filed within 90 days after the contract-performance period expires.
Preserve these seven things
Safety comes before a perfect record.
- Time — date and approximate start and end time
- Location — venue or pickup name, Chinese address, map pin and landmark
- Counterpart — merchant, vehicle plate, account name and visible phone number
- Amount — price requested, amount paid and currency
- Transaction proof — receipt, transaction ID, card slip or cash receipt
- Communications — existing messages, booking page, menu, contract or call log
- Witness or helper — a person who agrees to help and share contact details
Privacy boundary: never put a password, verification code, payment PIN, full card number or an unnecessary full passport image in this bundle. Do not expose yourself to danger to obtain a photo or recording.
Six worked cases
The friendly invitation
- Conditions
- A stranger near a tourist site insists on one tea house or bar whose prices are not visible.
- Result
- Decline that venue. Choose a public place yourself and check the total before ordering. You do not need to accuse the person of fraud.
The bill becomes coercion
- Conditions
- An inflated bill arrives and staff block the exit or make threats.
- Result
- Do not turn the bill into a physical fight. Move toward a public staffed area if safe and call 110. Evidence comes after leaving danger.
The caller says they are police
- Conditions
- A caller links your passport or account to a case and asks for a transfer, passport image or verification code.
- Result
- Do not pay or disclose. End the call and verify through an independently found police channel or 96110 before any loss.
The QR payee does not match
- Conditions
- The payment screen shows an unexpected personal or business name and no payment is confirmed yet.
- Result
- Cancel before confirming and ask the merchant to identify the account. A personal payee can be legitimate; mismatch alone does not prove fraud.
The airport car has no meter
- Conditions
- A tout offers a car outside the official queue, with no meter or tracked order.
- Result
- Do not enter. Use the official taxi queue, a hotel-arranged licensed service or a tracked ride-hailing order.
The package tour breaks the contract
- Conditions
- A travel agency or guide omits contracted services or forces an unagreed shopping stop; you are safe and have documents.
- Result
- Use the national culture-and-tourism complaint system; use local 12345 if the market complaint is urgent. This is not a refund guarantee.
Failure recovery
Threat or blocked exit
- Trigger
- Threats, confinement or immediate physical danger begin.
- First action
- Move toward a public staffed place if safe and call 110.
- Alternative
- Ask hotel, station, venue or security staff to call from a local phone.
- Escalation
- Leave danger before trying to complete the evidence bundle.
Money has already moved
- Trigger
- An electronic transfer or card payment has already been made in a suspected fraud.
- First action
- Preserve the transaction record and call 110.
- Alternative
- Contact the bank or payment provider through its official app or an independently verified number.
- Escalation
- Follow instructions without assuming reversal, refund or recovery time.
Safe consumer or tourism dispute
- Trigger
- There is no immediate danger and the issue is an ordinary price, goods or service dispute.
- First action
- Use the national 12315 platform or local 12315.
- Alternative
- For a travel agency or guide dispute, use the national culture-and-tourism complaint system.
- Escalation
- Use local 12345 when the tourism-market complaint is urgent.
The phone or language route fails
- Trigger
- The selected short code does not connect or caller and operator do not share a language.
- First action
- Move to a local voice-capable phone.
- Alternative
- Show the number and Chinese location to nearby staffed assistance.
- Escalation
- For immediate danger, keep 110 as the target; do not substitute an online complaint form.
No refund, recovery-time or English-service promise
The reviewed sources do not establish:
- Which tourist scam is most frequent nationwide
- Whether a bank, card issuer or payment platform will reverse a completed payment
- Whether police or a complaint platform will recover the money
- A national response or resolution time
- Nationwide English service on 96110, 12315 or 12345
- Short-code access and complaint registration from every foreign phone and identity setup
These remain outcome, device, language and workflow gaps. The page routes the first action; it does not manufacture the result.
Build the pause before the incident
- Save the five stop signals.
- Store your hotel's Chinese name, address and phone.
- Save the card issuer or payment provider's support route from its official app or website.
- Keep 110 for immediate danger, suspected crime or money already lost to suspected fraud, and 96110 before loss for suspected telecom or internet fraud.
- Do not place a false test call.
Sources and verification boundary
Key guidance checked on . Recheck the linked authorities before relying on this page. Chinese official sources establish channel scope. Foreign-government advisories provide bounded traveller-risk patterns. No field test has proved foreign-phone access, English support, identity registration or recovery outcomes.
China safety and security — scams, QR and taxisUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office ↗China Travel Advisory — phone impersonation, taxis and victims of crimeUS Department of State ↗96110 warning, consultation and reporting scopeNanjing Public Security Bureau ↗National 12315 platform and local hotlineState Administration for Market Regulation ↗National culture-and-tourism complaint systemMinistry of Culture and Tourism ↗12301 and 12318 phone lines merged into local 12345Ministry of Culture and Tourism ↗Tourism Complaint Handling Measures — 90-day filing boundaryMinistry of Culture and Tourism ↗China travel advice — reporting crime or scamAustralian Smartraveller ↗