Scammers in China have traditionally preyed on young people looking for quick cash or older individuals seeking health and longevity. However, they have found a new target: academics.

Liu Xia, a lecturer in economics and management at a private university in Wuhan, capital of Hubei province in central China, is still indignant when she recalls the experience in 2024 of a paper submission-based scam.

Needing to publish a conference paper for a professional title evaluation, she found an event that was accepting submissions, with a promise that those accepted would be indexed in Compendex, the leading engineering literature database managed by Elsevier, and other listings.

Liu paid the 4,600 yuan (US$680) publishing fee but when she received a copy of her published paper several months later, realised it was printed in an obscure journal that could not be found through any of the recognised academic databases.

“This simply cannot count as a recognised academic publication,” Liu told the South China Morning Post. She later learned that the conference was “entirely fabricated” – it had never taken place and even the organising committee was completely made up.

“Researchers are not deceived because they are unintelligent,” she emphasised. “If a scholar is unfamiliar with how conference publications work, they can easily fall into the trap.”