Chinese police detain three suspects in Shanghai Disneyland employment scam
About 200 people reportedly paid finder’s fees totalling 3 million yuan in response to fake job advert posted by gang claiming to work for the new mainland theme park
PUBLISHED : Friday, 15 April, 2016, 12:08pm
UPDATED : Friday, 15 April, 2016, 12:08pm
Mimi Lau
[email protected]
Shanghai police have busted an employment scam involving Shanghai Disneyland, which saw about 200 victims reportedly pay fees totalling 3 million yuan (HK$ 3.6 million) to brokers in return for finding them jobs – some of which did not exist, state media Xinhua reported.
The news comes only two months before the official opening of Disney’s first theme park on the mainland on June 16.
Just the ticket: huge demand for Shanghai Disneyland sees first day sold out within five minutes
Xinhua reported on Thursday that three suspected gang leaders in the scam had been detained during a police investigation into a fraudulent job advertisement.
Shanghai Disneyland has no connection with the scam involving the fake advert.
One of the suspects had allegedly confessed to police that he had pretended to be a senior Disney executive recruiting staff and placed the job advert on WeChat, the mainland mobile phone messaging app, the Xinhua report said.
[An aerial photograph of the Shanghai Disneyland theme park, which will open to the public on June 16. Photo: Xinhua]
People responding to the advert were asked to pay a finder’s fee to a broker in return for helping them secure employment at Shanghai Disneyland.
Successful applicants were told they would receive 20 days of training in the city of Zhuhai, in Guangdong province, in preparation for working in Disneyland, the report said.
However, some of the victims of the scam handed over fees for non-existent jobs, the report said.
[Construction continues at the site of the Shanghai Disneyland theme park on February 28, Photo: Kyodo]
In other cases, the suspects operating the scam did actually pass on the details of job applicants to Disney, the report said. But the victims later found that they had been offered only low-level jobs, instead of the management position for which they had applied.
A taxi driver was the first person to report the scam to police, Xinhua said.
He said he had paid a fee of 13,000 yuan to a broker for finding him a management position at the theme park.
However, after quitting his job at the taxi company after being told he had a job, he discovered he had been employed only as a janitor, the report said.
Xinhua did not give details about how many people had paid out fees for non-existent jobs, or how many people had secured low-level employment instead of management roles.
The June opening of the Disney park in Shanghai triggered a sales rush after thousands of tickets became available in March.
Park passes for the resort’s opening day were snapped up within minutes, with scalpers charging up to 3,400 yuan extra for a 499 yuan ticket.
