Pictures of a Chinese boy sent to his parents during a virtual kidnapping earlier this yea
New state police have recently re-discovered that an 18-year-old chinese female student who attended high school in australia has been "virtual kidnapped" and her family in china has been cheated, paying more than a $210,000 to send pictures and videos of her abduction.
The school girl was found unharmed by police on Tuesday at an address in the Pyrmont district near Sydney's Chinatown a week after a friend reported her disappearance.
Cheaters are elaborate phone scams aimed at lonely and vulnerable Chinese students, deceiving and manipulating them, allowing their parents to pay large ransom to criminal groups.
New state police said in july that eight chinese students living in sydney had been "virtual kidnapped" for fraud. Such frauds cost victims' families more than $3 million this year alone.
Capital Territory police said they received reports of similar fraud cases in 2013, with Chinese students paying 150000 yuan.
Although police in Vizhou, Taz, Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and Capital Territory said they had not received reports of virtual kidnappings this year, they urged people to guard against such telecommunications fraud.
The so-called "virtual fraud" involves persuading students to pretend to be kidnapped and then sending pictures and text messages to their parents for ransom.
Among them ," routines "include posing as Chinese embassies and consulates in Australia, the Chinese police or Interpol, calling Chinese students in Australia by technical means using the telephone number of the relevant institutions, falsely claiming that the person or his parents are suspected of serious crimes, if they do not cooperate with the" investigation "will be wanted or arrest, and" case needs "and other reasons to control and guide the person to take pictures or videos of his being tied up, beaten, crying to his parents for rescue. Later, the fraudsters coerced the client to leave his current address, stay in the hotel, and cut off communication channels such as mobile phones and social app, so that he could not contact his family or relatives. During the period of "missing contact" between the client and the outside world, the fraudsters falsely use the client's social app or mobile phone to contact the parents of the client, falsely claim that the child was "kidnapped ", and send pictures or videos recorded in advance to prove the authenticity of the" kidnapping ", and defraud the parents of a huge "ransom ". Because fraudsters can accurately understand and tell parents and children's privacy information, and there are related pictures, videos "as evidence ", parents often believe it, resulting in significant property losses.
Who is gullible?
The cheaters are usually targeted at Chinese students who have just arrived in Australia or those isolated in the Australian Chinese community.
Tsai Si-kai, vice president of the Australian Emergency Assistance Association (AEAAI), has helped a small number of overseas families of victims over the past two years by liaising with local police and providing translation support.
The organization is an aid network for the Australian Chinese community and consists of local Chinese volunteers.
Cai Sikai told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that the age of the victims ranges from 17 to 50, but they are usually young people with limited social experience and are more likely to be victims of scams.
According to her personal experience, virtual kidnapping fraud usually involves four steps and usually takes months to complete.
To begin with, the victim receives an automatic call, or a call from a real person who impersonates an authoritative person, such as an official or police officer from the government, China embassy or the Australian Taxation Bureau (ATO) of Australia. even the staff of logistics provider or COVID-19 testing center.
If the victim answers the phone, the deceiver will entice them to provide them with personal information, including their full name, date of birth and address, via the phone or form on a phishing website.
The cheaters also encourage victims to continue to communicate through various encrypted applications such as social app and WhatsApp.
Second, fraudsters accuse victims of crime and threat use their personal information to impose law penalties.
This may include deportation, visa cancellation, law action or arrest, unless they or their families pay a ransom.
The third step involves gaining the trust of the victims and telling them that they are conducting a financial investigation, which may have an impact on their families in China if they do not pay.
Finally, fraudsters say they need a "bond" to solve the problem. They advised victims to falsify their kidnappings to manipulate their parents to pay if they did not have cash.
Fraudsters also force victims to film photo and videos of themselves blindfolded and blindfolded and send them to their families. The victim was then forced to move to an unknown place, such as a hotel.
And in order to ensure that the whole story is covered up, the cheaters tell them that the investigation is a sensitive matter and that they should not contact their family or authorities.
Why do so many people fall into this scam?
According to police and experts, telecommunications scams against Asian communities have been rampant again since 2018.
The Director-General of Criminal Investigation of the New State Police, Bennett (Darren Bennett), said in a statement that the purpose of the virtual abduction was "to take advantage of trust in authorities and that transnational organized criminal groups have made progress in this regard over the past decade ".
"Although these calls are random in nature, they seem to target vulnerable groups in the Australian Chinese community ," he said. "
A Chinese police officer in Queensland warned Chinese to guard against fraud in a Mandarin video address last yea
The victims, many of them high school graduates, are usually foreign students who have just arrived in Australia, Mr. Cai said.
"The fraudsters use the same old tricks every year, but the victims keep showing up ," she said. "
"They are used to being cared for at home. Now, they must be independent, but they have no ability to argue against fraud. That is why they are common targets. "
She said she learned from interviews with victims and their parents that there was usually a lack of communication between the two before the incident.
