Mr Viral
Weeks after the United Nations Development Programme office in China flagged a fake website misusing its name and logo, an undercover investigation by the state-run Xinhua News Agency has uncovered a broader fraud network selling counterfeit credentials, fake internships, and academic certificates to students and job seekers.
The operation was run by an outfit based in the southwestern city of Chengdu calling itself the “Sichuan Zhongqing Talent and Technology Research Institute.” According to an undercover Xinhua probe, the group created a fake UNDP website and promoted its services through social media, offering forged recommendation letters, volunteer records, and other official-looking documents.
Authorities have flagged the group’s registration as fraudulent and are now moving to revoke its business license.
In a report published Monday, Xinhua found that the company had built a fake website — https://unga.org/index — designed to mimic the UNDP, complete with copied logos, layouts, and branding. (The official UNDP website is https://www.undp.org.)
Posing as a prospective buyer, a Xinhua reporter contacted one of the company’s so-called “academic consultants” on the messaging app WeChat. The consultant offered a wide range of falsified documents, including professional skills certificates, competition awards, volunteer records, project completion credentials, professor recommendations, and appointment letters.
When the reporter said they were applying to study abroad and needed proof of an internship at an international organization, the consultant promoted a “United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Volunteer” program. Fees ranged from 3,000 to 59,800 yuan ($410–8,183), with the promise of an official U.N. internship certificate and recommendation letter upon completion.
Registered in 2023 with an address in Chengdu, the institute was later found to have used the location without authorization.
The actual occupant reported the fraudulent use to authorities. Local regulators confirmed the group had submitted fake registration documents, including a forged lease, and have since flagged it as an abnormal operation and are moving to revoke its business license.
Although the fake UNGA website is now offline, the group also promoted competitions under the banner “NATF – National Analyze Talent Future,” many of which closely resembled legitimate university events.
Asked about competition certificates, the “consultant” offered first-, second-, or third-place awards for 280, 200, or 120 yuan. The reporter purchased a third-place certificate for an innovation and entrepreneurship contest and received it electronically within 10 minutes.
However, checks with national education authorities found no record of the certificate.
Fake credentials remain widely available online. A search by Sixth Tone on China’s leading e-commerce platform Taobao this week found numerous shops selling similar certificates, with one store logging over 2,000 sales. Prices ranged from 130 to 280 yuan across categories such as academic contests, sports, and social practice.
Wang Zhu, a law professor at Sichuan University, in Chengdu, told Xinhua that internet platforms should be held accountable for monitoring keywords like “certificate guarantee” and “background enhancement,” which may indicate fraudulent activity. He also urged stricter checks on terms such as “international organization” and “official organization.”
Experts further advised job seekers to stay vigilant and verify the legitimacy of organizations through official channels to avoid falling victim to similar scams.
Editor: Apurva.
(Header image: The official UNDP website (left); and the fake website used to scam students. From United Nations’ WeChat official account)
