Your Company Asks You to Borrow $4 Million? Beware of Employment Frauds with Lending Trap
2026-04-16
There may be fraudsters within all recruitment platforms! If you just started working in a new company not long ago (especially work from home), and the company asks you to borrow money in personal capacity with various excuses, your job is highly likely to be an “employment fraud with lending trap”. Recently, a victim applied for a post of “administrative assistant with an hourly wage of $100”. After working for a little while, the victim was asked to borrow money in personal capacity, and finally bore the burden of a $4 million plus loan.
Defaulting Trick
Fabricating a wide variety of posts: administrative assistant, major event organiser, backend assistant, clerk, customer service officer, etc.
Placing advertisements: put advertisements on various recruitment platforms or social media.
Proactive contacts: contact victims on WhatsApp. Fraudsters answer job seekers’ enquiries in a professional manner and offer them employment contracts at first, making the “companies” seem to be real.
Demanding loan applications early: after victims work for a little while, the fraudsters ask them to use personal credit cards, or apply for cash advances, bank loans, etc. to borrow money with various “emergency excuses”*, then transfer the loans to designated bank accounts immediately.
Continuously increasing the amount of loans: once the victims start the transfers, the fraudsters lure them to continue to borrow money or make more payments with excuses such as “the companies will bear the burden of loans”, “making high returns” or “questionable declarations to banks”. The fraudsters even impersonate staff members of financial institutions to blackmail them until they cannot repay the loans or note that they have been defrauded.
“Emergency Excuses” Invented by Fraudsters:
After the victims believe that they are staff members, the fraudsters ask them to borrow money in personal capacity with various excuses, guaranteeing that the companies “will repay the loans very soon” and even proposing that a commission will be paid for each transfer.
Example of excuse 1: help their big boss finance the company or buy luxuries.
Example of excuse 2: borrow money to raise capital and 5% of the total loan amount will be offered as returns.
Example of excuse 3: the company’s capital is inside the Mainland, so they are asked to help the company raise working capital. A 10% to 15% commission is paid for every amount raised.
Example of excuse 4: their company is going to organise a major event and asks them to make advance payments.
A Recent Case: a 25-year-old Female Clerk Helped “Financing” and Lost over $2 Million
A 25-year-old female clerk looked for part-time jobs on www.parttime.hk in early January 2026, and then fraudsters contacted her and offered her a post. On the surface, it was a clerk post performing daily administrative duties such as obtaining quotations and handling documents.
In late February, the fraudsters started asking her to finance the company, and demanded her to apply to various finance companies for loans which were transferred to designated bank accounts.
In early April, the fraudsters claimed that “banks had discovered her multiple loan applications and would report a deception case”. In panic, she withdrew her family’s savings of $1 million and borrowed $1 million from banks, and transfer the sum of $2 million to designated bank accounts.
In the end, she lost over $2.25 million.
A Recent Case: a Retiree was Defrauded for a Year and Lost $5 Million.
A 64-year-old retiree saw job advertisements on moovup.com in August 2024 and was interested in a clerk post, so proactive contacted the advertiser, who claimed that they raised capital in Hong Kong on behalf of their Mainland clients, by WhatsApp and got the post.
In December 2024, the victim received two loan notifications involving $600,000 and $430,000. The victim immediately contacted the advertiser, who said that their company would bear the burden of loans, instructed the victim to borrow money in personal capacity to assist in financing the company, and promised that they would give the victim 5% of the total loan amount as returns afterwards. Following that, the victim applied for five additional loans.
Next, the fraudsters impersonated the person-in-charge of a finance company and blackmailed the victim on the pretext of “questionable declarations”. The fraudsters lost contact since September 2025. In the end, the victim lost over $5 million.
A Recent Case: an Hourly Wage of $100 Became a $4 million Debt
A 30-year-old salesperson posted her CV on recruitment platform in early December 2025. Several days later, fraudsters contacted her by WhatsApp and offered her a post. They said that they hired her to take up a post of administrative assistant working from home with an hourly wage of $100. The duties were tidying forms and comparing prices displayed on official and second-hand websites. They also said that the company core business was buying and selling watches.
In February 2026, they instructed her to apply for a number of loans, promising that all loans would be repaid. The unwary victim applied for loans one by one, totalling over $4 million, and transferred the loans to designated bank accounts.
In the end, she lost over $4 million.
Our Advice
Job seekers should not hastily believe unsolicited incoming calls, and should verify the background of companies proactively.
Be extra vigilant about posts without requirements for academic qualifications or work experience, allowing flexible working arrangement or work from home.
Do not hastily provide copies of identity card, address proof or bank account information to unverified companies or individuals.
Legitimate companies will never ask their employees to borrow money in personal capacity or make advance payments. Turn down such requests immediately if your receive them.
If you suspect that you have fallen prey to a scam, please call the “Anti-Scam Helpline 18222”.
Other employment fraud:
Beware of Employment Fraud Targeting University Students Fraudsters Recruit “Interns” on LinkedIn
https://www.adcc.gov.hk/en-hk/alerts-detail/alerts-2038471984935432194.html
