Bosses involved

Compared with Zhang, a vendor who posted on Tsinghua University's Internet bulletin board sounded more powerful: "No matter what your major is, as long as you are a new graduate, I will guarantee a Beijing hukou for you."

"If you met the requirements to get a Beijing hukou yourself, you wouldn't call me," he said on the phone. "The price, 180,000 yuan, is just an average price this year. And I know someone paid 300,000 yuan for a hukou in Chaoyang district.

"Yes, last year I made some deals at prices between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan, but it's past tense already. Look at the increasing rate of property prices in the capital. Do you still think I ask for too much?

"I just helped a piano major get a hukou," he said. "You can tell how strong our relationship network is."

Sensing the reporter's hesitation and in a bid to ease her mind, the vendor said he works for a human resources company in Xicheng district. Selling hukou quota is based on his superiors' willingness to bring more money into the company.

"You can pay after you get the hukou," he said. "You won't need to worry about anything."

Several netizens who followed this vendor's posts - whether his beneficiaries or his shills - said what the man promised was true and that they had obtained real Beijing hukou with his help. Still other posters said he's a swindler, and they reminded people to be wary.

'They are all frauds'

Zhang Ziming was cheated out of 25,000 yuan recently by a hukou vendor.

His son is a new college graduate and he found a job with an information technology company in Zhongguancun, but the company cannot offer Beijing hukou.

"If my son wants to settle down, a Beijing hukou is very necessary," Zhang said. He contacted several hukou vendors and finally focused on one called "hukou99" online.

"I bargained with him and finally got a deal at 160,000 yuan. I handed in all the materials he needed. He asked for 15,000 yuan as a down payment for fear that I would change my mind and he would waste a quota. Then another 10,000 yuan as social insurance for my son," Zhang said

Zhang refused to pay, but the vendor said it's standard practice in the industry. Zhang paid.

"He asked me to wait for a month, but when I called after a week, the phone was powered off, and now it has become a dead number. Buying hukou is illegal. How could I report it to the police?

"Do not trust those hukou vendors. They are all frauds."