TEFL Blacklist

Scammy businesses and schools have become such a problem for people looking to teach English as a Foreign Language in other countries that people have begun crowdsourcing information about which schools and businesses are fraudulent and which ones have long histories of scamming people out of money. There's an entire subreddit devoted to this. One story, about someone from Santa Fe, NM who was scammed out of $8500 by an unscrupulous Chinese businesswoman, stood out more than the rest:

Long story short, when I called Rosie and told her that if she did not give me back my passport I was going to the police, she just laughed at me and told me how stupid I was. When I asked why, she told me to go to the police if I wanted but they would ask me for my passport and without one I would be arrested and when they find out I "was working on a tourist visa" they would deport me. She then said he lost a lot of money processing me and if I wanted my passport back. I would have to reimburse her "expenses" which she said were $2,500. I had no choice but to pay. She wanted another $1,000 to get back the diploma and TEFL certificate she got for me. Stupid me, I paid her because I wanted to stay in China and just find another teaching job. I did, at a real school that is sort of famous with many locations.

On March 1st, I had to go to Hong Kong and came back with a Z visa that my new employer arranged for me but I had to pay for it. Three days after I got back, our school had a "random visa check" by the China police people. Of the 7 foreign teachers working there, me and Ray were asked to go with the police for "questioning". When we got to the police office they had my diploma and TEFL certificate and they asked me how much I paid for them because they knew they were not real. At first I played dumb until they showed me a photo of "Rosie". Then they asked me how long and where I met "Rebecca". When I said I did not know any "Rebecca" they all just laughed. I am not sure what happened to Ray because I never saw him again. The police took me to some "holding facility" and told me I was under arrest for immigration fraud. They were polite but told me I had to pay a fine of $150 for every day that I worked illegally in China. My big brother came from the States to pay my fine because thanks to Rosie I was broke! I had to sit a full 30 days in that Chinese jail even though my brother paid my fine nine days after I was arrested.

I know many people that have gone to teach English in other countries and I've occasionally heard stories like this, but it does appear to be a rapidly growing problem. Suffice it to say, if you're considering teaching English in another country, fully vet the company and/or school that you're going to work with. There are many legitimate and worthy organizations that do want fluent English speakers to teach our language and who are not out to scam you out of your money or land you in a foreign country's jail.