In China, some researchers are attending academic conferences that do not exist

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.