Minimal toilet breaks, alarm clock curbs: Chinese tricksters take cue from Squid Game to prey on the indebted
Squid Game, fraudsters are preying on the financially distressed in a slumping economy with promises of prize money, debt restructuring and other schemes that are not always what is promised.
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Unlike the dystopian South Korean TV series, which returns to the small screen for a second season on Thursday, Chinese players taking on «self-discipline» challenges do not risk their lives if they lose.
But courts have found some participants in isolation challenges — who pay hundreds of dollars to stay in a room for days, following prescribed rules in the hopes of winning as much as 1 million yuan ($140,000) — are being scammed. And regulators are warning people about dodgy debt relief claims.
Isolation challenges, often advertised on Douyin, as TikTok is known in China, have risen in popularity this year as the world's second-biggest economy slows. It grew at the weakest pace in more than a year in the three months to September, spurring policymakers to pledge fresh measures to boost household incomes among other steps.
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