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Five Alipay Scam Tactics Unveiled – One Targets Chinese Mainland Students
2025-07-28

Five Alipay Scam Tactics Unveiled – One Targets Chinese Mainland Students

Defrauding Tricks

Scammers have been posing as Alipay customer service staff and calling members of the public to trick them out of money. Here are five tactics they recently use:

 

Tactic 1 Targeting Chinese Mainland students studying in Hong Kong 

Scammers claim that there are risks in your Alipay account and it has been frozen because you are underage. “Transfer verification” and “unbinding” from your guardian are required.

 

Tactic 2 Targeting online shoppers

Scammers claim that your delivery is lost and will help you make an insurance claim, luring you to input your banking information.

 

Tactic 3 Targeting the general public

Scammers claim that you have purchased Alipay insurance and payment is to be deducted from your account, and you need to input your banking information to cancel the payment.

 

Tactic 4 Targeting the general public

Scammers claim that you have joined Alipay’s “membership scheme” and a hefty membership fee is to be deducted from your account, and you need to input your banking information to cancel the payment.

 

Tactic 5 Targeting sellers on Xiaohongshu

Scammers pretend to be buyers on Xiaohongshu and reach you who sell second-hand items, claiming that they can pay instantly but find that your Alipay account has been frozen. You are then misled into contacting bogus Alipay customer service staff and inputting your banking information.

 

Our Advice

  • When using Alipay China, the “million dollar guarantee” service will be automatically activated free of charge, without payment of fees; application or renewal is not required;

  • Do not hastily trust online customer service who requests for transfers or your banking information;

  • If you receive calls purportedly from staff of any organisations, you should verify their identities through official hotlines, web pages or applications. Do not believe callers’ identities simply by the calling numbers;

  • Do not share your screen with strangers;

  • You may enter suspicious URLs on “Scameter” of CyberDefender or “Scameter+”, the mobile application of “Scameter”, to assess the risk of fraud and cyber security;

  • If in doubt, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222” for enquiries.