Teach your child one sentence: anyone who tells you to use a parent's phone or read out a verification code is a scammer

Cost

Free. Go over the 6 types below with your child, then agree on one sentence: "If you get scammed, tell me first, and I won't scold you." At the same time, set a limit on password-free payment, turn on youth mode, and don't tell your child the payment password. The hard part is keeping your temper if your child really does get scammed.

What you get

The Quanzhou Anti-Fraud Center (泉州市反诈骗中心), together with the Quanzhou Education Bureau, broke down 6 types of scams aimed specifically at young people. Their tricks differ, but the last step is the same action: getting the child to transfer money from a parent's phone. Type 1: private low-price trades of game accounts and gear. Xiao Wang privately transferred 260 CNY, and the other side said "transfers by minors violate the rules and the account will be frozen." He tapped a "verification link" on his father's phone, and more than 30,000 (3万) CNY was transferred out of the account. Type 2: "removing the anti-addiction limit." The other side threatened "if you don't transfer money to cancel it, your parents will go to prison," and the child transferred 7000 CNY from his mother's phone. The original says the anti-addiction system is set by the official side and "there is simply no 'private unlock' channel." Type 3: tip refunds. Scammers posed as "official customer service" and said tips by minors can be refunded, asking the child to "use a parent's Alipay to send gifts in a designated live room before the refund." 73,000 (7.3万) CNY was tipped out of the mother's account, and the child was blocked. The original says "if someone adds you and tells you to 'send gifts for a refund,' it is 100% a scam." Type 4: posing as a classmate or teacher. Scammers stole an account and sent voice messages giving a name to borrow money. At the start of the school term they also slipped into class chat groups posing as the teacher and posted "pay 500 CNY in school fees," with the same avatar and nickname as the real teacher, and had shills in the group say "already paid." Type 5: celebrity fandom. Scammers pulled the child into a "star fan group, claim an 888 CNY red envelope." First they had the child transfer 48.88 CNY to "verify." Then they frightened the child: "minors taking part breaks the rules, the platform will freeze 80,000 (8万), and your parents will go to prison." In all, 16,000 (1.6万) CNY was taken. The original says "real police and lawyers never contact minors online to investigate, and never ask for a parent's phone to be used." Type 6: on second-hand platforms, luring people off the platform with low-priced goods and having them transfer money privately. The same material also lists 3 red lines the child must not cross. First, don't lend, sell or rent out bank cards and phone cards. If a card is used to move criminal proceeds, it may amount to the crime of helping criminal activities on information networks (帮助信息网络犯罪活动罪), and a criminal record would affect graduate school and civil service exams. Second, part-time "phone-relay" (手机口) jobs are illegal and criminal. Third, "high-paying recruitment" abroad: the person may be taken under control as soon as they arrive abroad (national, October 2025)

Notes

Rated B because the official side gives breakdowns of scammers' scripts and individual cases, with no incidence rate and no statistics on how well prevention works. Keep this distinct from §5.9 (children's phone top-ups and tips): money a child spent on their own top-ups and tips can be claimed back under the Civil Code. Money taken by scammers does not fall under that provision, and you can only report it to the police and stop payment under §8.2. Whether it can be recovered depends on whether the money is still in the account. The scammers' core threat to children is "you broke the rules and your parents will go to prison." Telling your child beforehand that this sentence itself is the sign of a scam works better than questioning them afterward. The "tell me first, and I won't scold you" sentence has to be truly kept. Children who fear being scolded and hide it are the common reason losses snowballed in these cases. For the adult version of posing as an acquaintance, and AI face swapping, see §8.3, §8.4 (hard anti-fraud rules, hang up first when a transfer is involved). Adults are the same: don't read out verification codes or do face scans for anyone; see §8.45 (reading out verification codes).

Evidence grade

B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.

Sources

1. 泉州市反诈骗中心 (2025). 开学第一课｜反诈是青少年的必修课，这 6 大陷阱一定要避开！http://gat.fujian.gov.cn/ztzl/fjjffpzxrx/spjq/202510/t20251028_7026836.htm（福建省公安厅转载）

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 5, tip 10. This section is about money and spending. It is general information, not financial or investment advice. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer