In mid-November 2025, Yan XX from Henan was detained by the police on suspicion of contract fraud, and the case is currently still under investigation. According to insiders, the involved amount exceeded 20 million CNY (over 3 million US dollars). A single Pakistani buyer alone suffered losses of more than 900,000 US dollars, with over 10 customers involved in the case.
Mr. Yan XX is NOT a novice in used crane business in China; He has engaged in used crane international business for more than 10 years, he has built a certain reputation in the used construction machinery circle in central China. After years of accumulation, he has obtained a large number of domestic and foreign customer resources. And this time, all the victims of his fraud are long-term customers.
How did he pull off the scam successfully?
The key is low prices. He used extremely low prices to attract customers from developing countries and areas like Africa, India, Pakistan, Phillippines etc. He exploited customers' eagerness for low prices, quoting 10-20% lower than the market price each time, which lured numerous customers to cooperate with him. He then collected contract deposits but delayed delivery indefinitely—simply because he had no cranes to supply at all. The involved used cranes ranged from 80 tons to 700 tons in capacity, with the total deposits alone amounting to millions of US dollars.
How can we avoid being scammed?
First of all, you have to verify the supplier's qualifications (business license and export license verification is essential in China), as well as the ownership of the vehicles and the authenticity of the parking yard. According to the police, Yan XX did not own any cranes or dedicated parking lots himself. He simply rented an empty plot of land and then sublet it to others for parking used cranes. In other words, none of the cranes on the site belonged to him, but overseas customers usually found it difficult to verify this fact. If you are unable to conduct the verification yourself, it is advisable to hire a third-party auditing company to verify the exporter's qualifications. For example: STIN Supplier Inspection & Auditing Service , with this service you can also find out whether your supplier is involved with any lawsuit in China as well.
Second, do not overly pursue low prices. For any product, if the price is significantly lower than the market rate, you must remain highly vigilant. There is a Chinese saying that goes, "Cheap goods are of poor quality; quality goods are never cheap." An unusually low price definitely indicates potential scams in China.
Last but not least, third-party QC Inspection and Loading Process Supervision Service play a more and more important role in safe business in China, especially for used construction business. If you are not free enough, you can simply book a local service to smooth your business in China.
We are simply acting as your own eyes, assistants and office in China. Our mission is to save you more time, cost and energy, reducing the risks in your business in China !
