He Yanxia never imagined that a quick trip to a nail salon before ending her Beijing vacation would end with a call to the police. But what started out as a simple 28 yuan ($4.50) manicure almost derailed her vacation.

He, a toy designer in her early 20s, went to Xidan Department Store before going to the airport, and later she decided to stop into a nail salon on the first floor.

After the basic manicure, the attendant sprayed some product onto her nails, saying that it was great for moisturizing her skin. "She sprayed it without asking me first, and later they wanted to charge me 200 yuan for it," He told the Global Times.

She couldn't believe her ears when the stylist asked her for 508 yuan for a service that took less than 10 minutes.

"They responded to my questioning confidently, saying the buffing, polishing, spraying and many other services that I wasn't aware of added up to 508 yuan," said He.

Knowing she had no chance of winning a wrangle with those people, He called the police. When told the police were on their way, the people in the salon finally compromised, charging He the originally agreed upon 28 yuan, and urging her to leave the shop as soon as possible. She hurried back to the airport and returned to her home in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

He's story is just one of hundreds to emerge over the past month following a popular microblog post about deceptive nail salons in the Xidan shopping district. The post was forwarded more than 19,000 times, and many people added their own comments, testifying that they were also victims of the same scam.

On Dianping.com, a Chinese review website where restaurants, shops and salons are listed and rated by customers, hundreds of people claimed many nail salons in Beijing, especially in Xidan, are deceptive and shared their stories.

Lü Yue, a 25-year-old college student, was ripped off in a salon with the same name as the one where He was cheated, Jinzhishang at Xidan Mingzhu Department Store. 

"When they learned that I am a student studying overseas, they started cheating and cajoling me into getting assorted manicure and pedicure services," said Lü, who, ended up getting nails extensions, skin exfoliation, polishing and some other services.

"I had been asking about the price the whole time, but they kept saying that they didn't know until everything was finished," said Lü, noting that she asked for a price list but they didn't have one.

Eventually they told Lü that her total check was 1080 yuan, saying that the original price they mentioned when Lü first came into the shop was for each hand instead of both hands. Left with no choice, Lü had to hand over her credit card, and found that they changed the price again to 1,200 yuan.

When questioned, the manager picked up a bottle of liquid and sprayed it on Lü's feet, saying that that bottle was worth thousands of yuan, so spraying it once costs 120 yuan.

"They also separated me from my cousins who came together with me, and took me to another place to charge my credit card, so that they could really rip me off when I was alone," Lü told the Global Times.

Harvest great profits

Lü concluded that the deceptive salons especially prey on students studying overseas, because these students are richer than other young people, and that they've stayed abroad for so much time that they are no longer familiar with typical local scams.

The salons' other favorite targets include young female tourists and expats, especially ones that are alone. Many said in their Weibo posts that they were scammed when waiting for friends.

In He and Lü's cases, the salons used tricks including concealing the prices, complementing the customers to distract their attention from prices, and using mysterious materials that they could charge high prices for. Other tricks include persuading people into buying pre-paid membership cards worth thousands of yuan.

Even when the prices are clearly marked, the salons gain huge profits. According to a report by Beijing News on March 15, the cost is very low in the industry, and the gross profit margin can be as high as 98 percent.

In Beijing, a basic manicure with OPI nail polish usually costs about 50 yuan. Crystal acrylic nails, French nails, embossed or studded nails, and extensions will cost hundreds or more. A search on Taobao.com, China's largest online retailer, shows that the materials are not expensive. For example, 100 fake diamonds, for which a salon may charge 10 yuan each, can be bought at 2 yuan for the batch.

The report also points out that in 2003, national professional standards for nail stylists were made by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, but most stylists don't have a certificate.

The scope for fraud is huge. About 60 million women go to beauty salons to get skincare, hairdressing and manicure services or purchase products each year, with an annual expenditure of 300 billion, said Xu Jingquan, secretary-general of the China Association of Fragrance Flavor and Cosmetics Industries, in a conference report in 2012, according to the website of the China Consumers' Association (CCA).

Xu noted that the rules and regulations haven't caught up with the industry's fast development. Xu hopes there'll be more mandatory provisions in the future instead of the current voluntary guidelines.

Watch out for traps

Consumers need to be careful, but it is helpful to know the law is on your side.

"Concealing the prices from the customers violates the customers' right to know," said Bai Lin, lawyer from Beijing King & Bond Law Firm. Depending on the specific circumstances, the salons involved in scams may have violated China's Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers.

Bai advised customers to lodge complaints against the salons' dishonest or illegal businesses to the Administration for Industry and Commerce, or to the China Consumers' Association, if there is any kind of deception or fraud. If the conflict escalates into a physical altercations, people should call the police immediately, Bai added.

The Beijing Consumer Association warns people on their official website to be extra careful with prepaid cards. It says people should learn about the expiration dates, functions and other terms of the card before purchasing, and request a written contract.

Wu Song, media officer of Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce, said that they haven't received any complaints against the manicure saloons. And he reminds the consumers to check the business licenses of the salons before they choose their service.