D1.6 Rental Scams

"Outlaw Zhang San" Clone Shares Story 6

"Accumulate First, Harvest Later"

A Chinese international student who graduated in the UK and returned to China accidentally saw many classmates exposing rental scams in a group. Realizing this was a "business" with low costs, low risks, and high returns for quick wealth, he decided to try his hand at it.

After researching these collapsed rental agencies, he wrote a business plan and showed it to his friend. His friend shook his head, saying the cycle was too long and not worth the effort—politely refusing after being moved by the plan. Stung by the rejection, he thought "golden friends and silver friends are not as reliable as himself." He made a firm decision to go it alone. After hours of intense thinking, he concluded that the fastest way to build credibility and brand awareness was to look "officially legitimate."

So he registered a company with a registered capital of several million RMB in a region of China, then rented an office. The decoration was simple, but the background looked highly formal—with small Chinese and British national flags hanging neatly. As the air conditioner blew, the flags swayed gently, and the BGM "Let’s Swing Together" played in his mind. Swinging along, he opened a webpage and posted several job listings.

With employees on board, money started flowing out rapidly. Useless employees were promptly fired; useful ones were assigned clear roles:

Employee A: Plagiarized articles from various sources—some rewritten, some copied directly.

Employee B: Handled the launch and maintenance of websites, mini-programs, and apps, and placed ads everywhere.

Employee C: Infiltrated certain organizations in the UK.

Employee D: Took charge of customer service and sales.

Employee E: Handled after-sales support.

As for him, he never told anyone his specific job responsibilities—a secret he could never let his employees know. Yet this secret had to make his employees think their boss was amazing, powerful, and awesome.

So what was his secret task? Frankly, it was too embarrassing to let employees know—his image would be ruined. Nor could he let outsiders know; he needed to protect his reputation in the early stages.

It turned out his job was to contact other agencies—Chinese or foreign, as well as Chinese managers of apartment complexes. What a clever move: having access to their properties was equivalent to having his own!

This tricky operation was brilliant. He acted as a middleman profiting from price differences and an integrated salesperson.

But he was no ordinary middleman—he was extraordinary because he dared to offer huge concessions. Normally, a middleman would mark up the original or negotiated price when selling to students, but he did the opposite: he sold at the original price, even below cost, and offered bonuses for successful referrals.

In other words, he was making a loss at this stage, but not a huge one.

Subsequently, after building a certain customer base, he began renting directly from landlords, sub-landlords, and some apartment complexes—paying in short-term installments or with delayed payments plus interest to form a trust loop.

Of course, all this was preparation for the final stage.

He persisted like this for several years—at least three. Through a series of clever tactics, his company’s reputation among students and landlords was neither particularly good nor bad. Then it was time to "harvest." His scam followed the same pattern as all exposed cases: he fled with over 10 million RMB stolen from students. When some students first exposed him online, he sent them lawyer’s letters, forcing them to delete their posts. During this window, he continued his fraud. In the later stage, due to the large number of victims and the huge amount of money involved, he fled—leaving his company empty and failing to pay his employees’ final salaries.

Conclusion: Sometimes I can’t help but doubt myself—am I too moral and conscientious that I’m still mediocre, haven’t made a fortune, haven’t become wealthy, and remain an ordinary nobody?

Yet this ordinary nobody’s path in life is not transparent and broad, nor fair and just. Occasionally, I’m tripped by an unseen foot stretched out in the dark by someone without morality or conscience. In front of an audience, I’m a laughingstock; behind closed doors, I’m a joke of reality.