If an acquaintance asks you to "help scan your face or act as a witness" for a loan, or asks you to read out an SMS verification code, refuse immediately: this is an "AB Loan" scam where you become the legal borrower, not a guarantor

Requests to "help scan your face as a witness" are fraudulent schemes where loan brokers apply for bank credit directly under your legal name. You are registered as the primary borrower (Party B), not a guarantor. When loan proceeds are disbursed to your account and forwarded to the acquaintance (Party A), the lending bank holds you legally responsible for repayment. Even if loan brokers deceived you, the loan contract cannot be rescinded against the bank if the bank had no knowledge of the fraud. Any private written promise from Party A pledging "I will repay the loan" is completely unenforceable against the lender.

Zero financial outlay. The willpower challenge is saying no to friends or relatives who assure you "it's just a formality" or "you won't bear any liability." Never hand over your phone, government ID, or bank card to loan brokers, and never perform facial recognition or sign documents orchestrated by them. Keep verification codes strictly private.

Official consumer risk warnings issued by financial regulatory authorities (including NFRA Fujian and Shandong Bureaus) document the mechanics of the "AB Loan" trap. When applicant A has impaired credit or insufficient collateral to secure bank financing, unscrupulous loan intermediaries advise finding a creditworthy acquaintance B under the pretext of needing a "guarantor" or "witness," falsely promising B will bear zero liability. In reality, brokers use B's identity, smartphone, and facial recognition data to submit primary loan applications. In a criminal case prosecuted in Shanghai Putuo District Court, loan brokers took B's phone to download banking apps, applied for loans directly in B's name, routed funds through B's account to A, and extracted over 80,000 RMB in predatory brokerage fees; eight brokers were convicted of contract fraud and sentenced to up to 4 years' imprisonment. However, broker criminal convictions do not automatically extinguish civil debt obligations to lending banks. Under Civil Code Article 149, contracts induced by third-party fraud may be rescinded by the defrauded party only if the counterparty (the lending bank) knew or should have known of the fraud; innocent third-party lenders remain entitled to full debt enforcement. Furthermore, private indemnification agreements between A and B cannot be set up against the bank under contract privity rules (Civil Code Articles 465, 551, and 675). In Neijiang, Sichuan, a mother who performed facial recognition for a loan on behalf of her son without reading the digital contract was held jointly liable by the court for over 60,000 RMB in principal, with the ruling emphasizing that competent adults "must reasonably anticipate the solemn legal significance and binding consequences of biometric facial recognition." Under the Electronic Signature Law, verified electronic signatures carry identical legal validity to handwritten wet signatures, and the Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law strictly prohibits assisting in real-name identity verification for others under penalty of fines and administrative detention.

Primary beneficiary is yourself; the person asking you to "help scan your face" is almost always a close acquaintance or relative. If you genuinely wish to support an acquaintance's credit application, ensure you sign an explicit guarantee contract as a formal guarantor rather than signing as the primary borrower (see Chapter 8, Rule 18 on acting as a loan guarantor). If you have already fallen victim to an AB loan scheme: preserve all chat records and bank transfer slips immediately, report the criminal fraud to public security authorities, and formally notify the lending institution's risk compliance division. Regularly monitor your credit history for unauthorized liabilities (see Chapter 5, Rule 9). Remember that biometric facial scanning and electronic code verification constitute binding legal execution (see Chapter 8, Rule 17). Never surrender your smartphone, bank accounts, or digital credentials (see Chapter 8, Rule 8). Evidence grade B is assigned as regulatory advisories profile case patterns rather than publishing total victim registries. Benefit magnitude is categorized as High based on avoiding six-figure debt liabilities.

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