China News Service, December 7th. According to a report from the Spanish edition of the European Times, a few days ago, some Chinese in the West were lured by high returns and privately participated in fund-raising or investing in "mark coin" projects. After the huge amount of funds was transferred, they found out that they were cheated ; The well-known Spanish dental chain Dentix Group declared bankruptcy in November, victimizing 100,000 consumers, including many Chinese customers.
How to prevent being deceived under the epidemic crisis?
"Europe Times" interviewed lawyer Ji Yihong, director of Spanish Chinese law firm.
He introduced the common cases he has come into contact with recently, and said that due to the economic downturn, Chinese people are deceived more often than before.
Chinese should strengthen their awareness and consult professionals to avoid being deceived.
What should I do if I lose my valuables?
Attorney Ji said that under the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the economy is not working well, so in recent months, Chinese people have been deceived more often than before.
Some are disputes with foreigners, and many are disputes between compatriots.
It is more common to ask someone to go shopping, or to send something to a family member in China through a courier company. After the package arrives, it is found that the valuables are missing, or even the entire package is gone.
When I went to the courier company for accountability, I found that the courier company had already closed.
Attorney Ji introduced that if the delivery company loses the item, it will be compensated at 5.976 Euro/kg in accordance with the Spanish "Transportation Law".
In other words, assuming that a 10,000 euro watch is lost, the courier company only needs to pay 6 euros.
This is stipulated in the "Transportation Law" enacted in 1987.
Therefore, Lawyer Ji reminded that if you need to send valuables, you must quote the truth truthfully and purchase insured or insurance services.
In fact, if a watch worth 10,000 euros is sent to China, it will be taxed by the customs.
But if you don’t quote or buy insurance, then the loss of delivery is the consumer’s loss.
Moreover, such disputes cannot be litigated.
Because according to the law, the compensation is 6 euros.
Valuable items are lost in the mail, on the one hand, some people use loopholes in the law to make consumers suffer losses.
But at the same time, sending valuables without customs declaration is a sign of consumers not complying with laws and regulations.
What should I do if I don't repay the borrowed money?
Under the epidemic crisis, there are also many disputes about private lending.
For example, someone asks a friend to borrow money, but after a while, no one can find it. What should I do?
Attorney Ji stated that, first of all, according to the Spanish Civil Procedure Law, if the borrower is in Spain, he can sue in the court where the defendant is located.
However, there are some private agreements that do not operate properly. The agreement states that if the borrowed money is not repaid, it must be litigated in the Chinese People's Court.
If the jurisdiction of the court is clearly defined, it is not possible to file a lawsuit in Spain.
Regardless of the language (Chinese or Spanish) and the country (China or other countries) in which the agreement was signed, as long as the agreement does not exclude Spanish jurisdiction, a lawsuit can be filed in Spanish courts.
Second, pay attention to the repayment cycle.
Assume that the repayment period is five years in the agreement, but the borrower has not repaid the money for six months.
In this case, the lender cannot sue for five years.
Because the time is clearly stated in the agreement, even if the borrower has not paid for six months, there is no hope of repayment for the remaining four and a half years, but it is still impossible to file a lawsuit.
Attorney Ji reminded that when signing the loan agreement, the repayment period is extended very long, which will have a great impact on the subsequent litigation.
Private lending often occurs between relatives and friends who are familiar with each other. Because of familiarity and understanding, many people will not make IOUs because of their affair, or fail to read the agreement seriously.
Therefore, once there is a dispute between the borrower and the lender, the agreement will be reproduced, and there are many problems, and the lawsuit cannot be recovered.
So attorney Ji reminded you to be cautious when signing the loan agreement and not to be careless when signing the agreement.
Big companies go bankrupt, what should consumers do?
In November, the well-known Spanish dental chain Dentix Group declared bankruptcy, 100,000 consumers were implicated, including many Chinese customers.
Many people paid the cost of the treatment and only got a tooth filled.
What should I do if this happens?
Attorney Ji said that during an economic crisis, large companies may go bankrupt at any time.
So be especially careful not to sign consumer loans casually.
Assuming that it costs 10,000 to see a dentist, if the consumer is temporarily unable to pay, the dental clinic may ask the consumer to sign a bunch of contracts and then deduct the money from the bank account every month.
Attorney Ji said that in many cases Chinese people sign the contract without looking at it, and the clinic does not explain it carefully.
But in fact, this is a document for installment payments with financial institutions.
After signing the consumer loan, if the dental clinic declares bankruptcy, it will no longer provide services.
But financial institutions can continue to deduct money.
If the customer forcibly fails to pay, the consequence is that they may be sued by financial institutions and will be blacklisted.
In Spain, after the company's bankruptcy application was approved, consumers could not get their money back.
Another situation is that some companies will say that consumers can give a 5% discount as long as they pay the fee in one lump sum.
Lawyer Ji suggested that there are many uncertain factors in the current economic crisis.
Therefore, when consumers purchase services, even if there are discounts, they don’t have to rush to pay in full, but rather pay the normal price.
It depends on how much service the merchant has done and then how much to pay.
In this way, if the business goes bankrupt, the loss is relatively small.
It is necessary to know that after the company enters the bankruptcy process, it will start liquidation, and the possibility of returning the money to consumers in the end may be minimal.
Therefore, under the epidemic crisis, Chinese in West China must prevent both the epidemic and fraud.
Digital currency scams are not uncommon
Finally, regarding digital currency, the Chinese Embassy in Spain has issued a special reminder recently.
Some Chinese in West China were tempted by high returns to participate in the "Bid Fair" fundraising or to invest in the "Mark coin" project through private financing. After the huge amount of funds was transferred, they discovered that they had been cheated and regretted it.
Attorney Ji said that with the development and progress of society, many scammers have begun to use new methods to cheat, such as digital currency.
Some Chinese may think that digital currency is very advanced and that it is very sophisticated to be the first to own digital currency. Therefore, scammers use this psychology to create the concept of nothingness and make Chinese believe that buying digital currency can make money.
If the Chinese don't know enough about new technology, they will easily enter the digital currency scam in droves.
According to Lawyer Ji, there are currently two main types of scams in digital currencies.
One is that it is fake from start to finish. The leader (commonly known as "huitou") fabricated a currency out of thin air, using high interest as a bait to illegally absorb public funds.
He also deceived others to say that he was legal. As long as he moved his fingers, he could earn back 20% of profits in one month.
But in fact, there is no approval from any financial regulatory authority.
Many people are deceived in this way.
Another type of digital currency scam is to make fake transactions.
The leader builds a virtual trading center, and then resells it by himself so that the price fluctuates between 10% and 20%.
People mistakenly think that after investing money, it is easy to generate high interest.
In fact, because the currency itself is virtual, there is no regulatory unit.
After the investor buys it, the leader will pretend to be innocent and say that the website has been hacked and all the money has been stolen.
In the past six months, such scams are not uncommon.
Attorney Ji reminded that at present, collecting evidence on computers is very complicated.
Many financings are operated remotely or even across borders to evade financial supervision of various countries.
Therefore, when such problems occur, it is more difficult to collect evidence together with the assistance of the police from various countries.
The investigation of computer forensics by the police in various countries is still in its infancy, so it is very difficult to recover funds.
Similar cases have occurred in Japan and Russia.
As long as the related small programs or trading platforms of digital currency suddenly stop running, investors will lose their money.
There are many scams and they are endless.
Therefore, Lawyer Ji suggested that in the event of an economic crisis, the Chinese should first try to defend their own bank and minimize expenses.
Don't think about making big money in areas you don't understand.
Consult professionals in areas you don't understand, and don't mess around.
Be especially cautious with high-profit investments.
In addition, don't be fooled by familiar people around you.
Many parties find lawyers to go through legal procedures, but find that many cases cannot be started, and losses cannot be recovered at all.
Therefore, in the context of an economic crisis, when engaging in economic, trade and commercial activities, Chinese people need to be especially careful, maintain a rational attitude and a sense of safety and vigilance, otherwise there may be traps at any time.
(Tang Yiyi)