The most scrupulous reader of Chinese language personals are FBI agents, according to the FBI. Agents are hoping to crackdown on the “fake marriage” advertisements that have proliferated recently in the Chinese language media.
Chinese newspapers often announce disclaimers to their readers: the newspapers were not responsible for the ads and the consequences related to the nature of the ads.
Only the readers can tell whether or not the ads are real, and many criminals use these ads to further their criminal activities, according to the FBI.
Ads serve a variety of criminal purposes. Many adds relate to prostitution and underground gambling. The FBI does not intervene in these kinds of activities because they fall under the jurisdiction of the local police forces. Recently, personal ads for "fake marriages" have been increasing.
According to sources, many criminal organizations buy pages of ads in Chinese newspapers, and then would sell these ads to people who wish to come to the United States from mainland China. The advertising fees are paid by the Chinese in China in order to place personal ads and attract U.S. citizens whom they can marry to gain citizenship. The criminals act as middlemen to coordinate communication between the two sides. The two parties negotiate the cost of the marriage, the ways to communicate with each other and other details of the marriage process in China.
Current statistics in the "fake-marriage" market indicate that a typical Chinese mainlander coming to the United States through a "fake marriage" has to pay $70,000. If the mainlander also brings one to two children through the marriage, the cost rises to $130,000. An additional child costs another $30,000. An additional adult costs another $50,000. Criminal organizations pretend to be clients posting these ads in Chinese newspapers. If they succeed in carrying out these "fake marriages," they earn a large profit. Furthermore, this method of doing business leaves no evidence behind.
The FBI confirmed that the bureau had a specialist scanning the various Chinese newspapers each day for ads and any clue related to any crime. They hoped that their analysis would find the mastermind behind a large criminal organization.
