Shanghai gang jailed after bullying foreigners into paying ultra-high prices for massages

The gang would jack up prices to extreme amounts, threatening physical violence if their victims didn’t pay up quick

A group of 13 men have been thrown behind bars for ripping off foreign tourists visiting Shanghai with a classic “massage scam.”

The scheme was quite simple. The group would lure unwitting foreign travelers into their massage parlors with promises of low rates. However, after services had already been rendered, they would jack up prices to extreme amounts, ranging in the tens of thousands of yuan.

If the tourists refused to pay, they were promptly were surrounded by a menacing group of thugs, who threatened physical violence if they didn’t hurry up and fork over the dough.

Afterward, drivers would escort the victims back to their hotels, warning them not to go to the police.

Unfortunately for the gang, some of their victims did not heed this advice. The men were arrested last June, one day after managing to extort 70,000 yuan ($11,000) from a group of five foreigners.

According to Shine, the 13 men were recently given prison sentences of between one to six years for their illegal activities.

Of course, these sort of schemes are common in Shanghai’s more touristy areas with scam artists and gangsters targeting naive foreigners who might be talked into a massage, a “massage,” or, most infamously, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony.

Back in 2016, a gang was busted for running an extremely shady bar in Jing’an district that specialized in ripping off laowai. The bar featured bottom-shelf liquor at top-shelf prices and employed ladies who could trick customers into ordering the stuff without asking for the price tag.

As you might expect, the place also offered “massage” services.