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SCMP Reporter

Criminals in China are creating fake charity bins to lure donations of clothing and other second-hand items which are then sold for a profit.
Xia Yiming from Fujian province in Eastern China often donates clothes that have gone out of style or no longer fit to charity using location donation bins.
“We always kept used clothes, waiting to give them to some poor relatives or cleaning ladies, but now, very few people wear used clothes, so I just help by donating them,” she told China Daily.
She also often helps her elderly parents get rid of unwanted items in this way as well.

“It is a good way to help the needy and also keeps my mum and dad’s closet neat and tidy. The old generation like my parents have a habit of hoarding,” she said.
However, she was horrified to learn that some donation bins are just a front for criminals to steal clothes to sell at a profit.
Now she scrutinises bins closely for the operator’s credentials, but said she has a new way of giving away used clothes – she leaves the bagged clothes at the entrance to her building and alerts her neighbours via a WeChat group: “Used clothes suitable for those in their 60s. Feel free to pick it up.”
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Many social media users have been stunned at recent reports about the fraudulent practice and expressed anger at being duped into thinking they were giving to charity.
“If this is just to make money for a private business I am saddened,” said one commenter on Baidu.

“How can they get away with this?” asked another commenter. “Why are authorities not intervening? These clothes are for people who struggle, for the needy, not the greedy ones.”
Earlier this year, an investigation by Chinese news site The Paper revealed that fake charities were buying clothing donation bins online from websites like Taobao and in some cases, the sellers were even offering to add on signs such as “Charity Association” “Public welfare” and “environmental protection” to make the bins appear as legitimate charity collection points.
On some e-commerce sites, the fake donation bins were being offered for sale at prices as low as 400 yuan (US$63) each.


The report said that a single tonne of used clothing can net up to 2,200 yuan (US$333). According to one anonymous fake charity bin operator quoted in the report, it’s “an easy and golden business”, with annual profits of up to 600,000 yuan (US$90,700).
In China, it is illegal to falsely operate a charity, but fake charity bins have become a booming business, especially in smaller cities.
Local officials find it increasingly difficult to keep track of the number of charity bins in many parts of the country.
Tracking down the operators can be time-consuming while proving criminal activity is often even more difficult.
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Wang Zhenyao, president of the China Philanthropy Research Institute said fake bins had started popping up in greater numbers in recent years as fewer Chinese people would hang onto used clothes.
“Donation activities began in the 1990s on a regular basis. Back then, without private enterprise or social organisation participation, donated used clothes were usually recycled by civil affairs departments that set up donation centres in a community,” he told Red Star News.
Last month, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs issued an alert reminding people that operating fake charities is against the law in a bid to crackdown on the practice.

Recently, some individuals and organisations without any public fundraising qualifications have been collecting used clothes in the name of “charity” and “public welfare”,” the notice said.
“This violates the Charity Law, jeopardises donors’ legal rights, tarnishes the image of the charity sector and is prohibited.”
Last year, authorities in Sichuan, western China, shut down four fake charities using donation bins and issued 20,000 yuan (US$3,050) in fines and removed the fake bins. In 2020, officials in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region removed 172 fake charity bins.


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Chinese scammers using fake charity bins make a killing tricking Good Samaritans into donating used clothes

Fake donation bins for sale online with the words “Charity Association” already printed on them to make them seem legitimate to donors. Photo: WeChat

Cleaning up nicely. Some operators boast of making up to US$90,000 plus a year selling clothes collected from the fake charity bins. Photo: copyfuture.com

Criminal operators say the money is good and call the fake bins ‘an easy and golden business’. Photo: WeChat

Many NGO’s rely on used clothes recycling bins to raise funds and help the needy, but fake boxes cut into this income and hurt the vulnerable people they claim be helping. Photo; Edmond So

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epaselect epa06037444 (01/34) A gay couple kisses during a party after a LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) mass wedding organised by the Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China organisation on a cruise in open seas on route to Sasebo, Japan, 15 June 2017. About 800 members of the Chinese LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and their parents spent four days on a cruise trip organised by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) China, a grassroots non-government organisation, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the organisation. It aims to promote coexistence among homosexuals and their families. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG CHINA OUT ATTENTION: For the full PHOTO ESSAY text please see Advisory Notice epa06037443

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News

People & Culture

Social Welfare

Trending in China

Fake charities are buying clothing donation bins online, with the sellers offering to add on signs like ‘Charity Association’ to make them look authentic
Criminals boast of annual profits of up to 600,000 yuan (US$90,700), and say it’s ‘an easy and golden business’


A growing number of fake charities are placing ‘donation bins’ across China and tricking unsuspecting donors into giving them used clothes that are then sold for ‘easy golden’ profits.


Scams and swindles

Crime

Crime in China

Chinese scammers using fake charity bins make a killing tricking Good Samaritans into donating used clothes

Fake charities are buying clothing donation bins online, with the sellers offering to add on signs like ‘Charity Association’ to make them look authentic Criminals boast of annual profits of up to 600,000 yuan (US$90,700), and say it’s ‘an easy and golden business’

Fake charities are buying clothing donation bins online, with the sellers offering to add on signs like ‘Charity Association’ to make them look authentic

Criminals boast of annual profits of up to 600,000 yuan (US$90,700), and say it’s ‘an easy and golden business’