Within half a month, I traveled across Hunan and Jiangsu provinces and booked hotel rooms several times, just to insert a black box.

　　At the instruction of others, Liu Qiang (pseudonym) used the above method and together with Li Gang (pseudonym), defrauded four people including Lu Huan (pseudonym) of more than 470,000 yuan, making a profit of more than 20,000 yuan.

　　Recently, after a public prosecution was launched by the People's Procuratorate of Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, the court sentenced Liu Qiang to one year and six months in prison and a fine of RMB 10,000 for the crime of aiding information network criminal activities.

The local number made him relax his vigilance

　　One day in February 2023, Lu Huan, who was working in Xiangcheng District, Suzhou, received a call whose home address was displayed as local. Lu Huan picked up the call without thinking much.

　　The other party claimed to be the customer service of a shopping platform and told Lu Huan that because the platform's loan interest rate was suspected of violating regulations, the service must be taken offline for adjustment. Lu Huan needed to close the service, otherwise it would affect Lu Huan's credit report.

　　Lu Huan recalled that he had indeed opened a loan business on the platform not long ago. Lu Huan was a little confused when he heard that it would affect his credit report, and quickly asked how to do it. The other party asked Lu Huan to add a QQ account first, and then guided Lu Huan through voice.

　　Through QQ, the other party told Lu Huan that in order to close the business, he must first transfer 15,000 yuan to the designated account. However, this was only a virtual transfer. There was no need to enter the payment password when transferring, and the money would not be actually transferred. Lu Huan followed the other party's instructions and transferred 15,000 yuan to the bank account dictated by the other party. He did not enter the payment password when transferring the money. He only performed face verification and entered the verification code received on his mobile phone.

　　Later, the other party asked Lu Huan to use the same method to borrow 50,000 yuan and 30,000 yuan from Weilidai respectively and transfer them to the designated account. The other party still emphasized to Lu Huan that this was just a virtual transfer and the loaned money would also be repaid. In Lu Huan's account.

　　After hanging up the phone, Lu Huan immediately checked his bank account. Unexpectedly, nearly 100,000 yuan that had just been transferred to the other party's account had been transferred to the other party's account. Lu Huan was dumbfounded on the spot and quickly dialed the other party's phone number. No one answered, and no one responded to the QQ number. Lu Huan realized that he had been defrauded and immediately called the police.

Open a room, insert boxes, and make "quick money" while lying down

　　After receiving the alarm, the police found that the number calling Lu Huan was the front desk number of a hotel in Xiangcheng District. They immediately rushed to the hotel and found that 73 calls were made from Room 621 of the hotel, including the victim Lu Huan’s mobile phone number. , and immediately captured Liu Qiang who was still in the room.

　　Liu Qiang, who was captured, denied committing fraud and said he was just a hotel sleeper. At this time, the police seized a black box and a bundle of network cables from Liu Qiang's room. When asked about the purpose of this black box, Liu Qiang was hesitant and evasive. Liu Qiang, who was born in 2003, has little experience in the world. Facing serious interrogation by the police, Liu Qiang finally confessed his crime.

　　At the end of January 2023, after being introduced by fellow villager Mr. Zhang, Liu Qiang learned that there was a job that “can make money while lying down”, and he immediately agreed. A few days later, Mr. Zhang asked Liu Qiang to place an order for a black box from a certain platform, and told him to find a hotel and book a room. Then he plugged the black box into the network socket of the hotel room, and then waited for payment. Mr. Zhang also repeatedly told Liu Qiang to use a specific app to communicate in the group.

　　Liu Qiang's friend Li Gang knew that there was such a "good job" and joined him. As required, the two chose a hotel in Hunan and successfully completed the task. Not long after, they received a "favorite fee" of 900 yuan from Alipay. In early February, Liu Qiang and two others were caught committing their first crime in Suzhou. "I'm also curious. I don't know what the black box is used for, but I know it must be for illegal things." Liu Qiang confessed after arriving at the case.

　　After technical research and judgment by the public security organs, this black box is actually a virtual dialing device, which has become the "new favorite" of telecom network fraudsters in recent years. It can switch mobile phone numbers from domestic and overseas to dial the victim's phone number. But it is displayed as the local number of the black box location.

E-wallet address sheds light on case

　　On May 16, 2023, the case was transferred to the Xiangcheng District People’s Procuratorate for review and prosecution. When the prosecutor interrogated Liu Qiang, he insisted that he only received 900 yuan to insert the box. Liu Qiang's Alipay bill did not show other profits.

　　The amount of the crime is crucial to the accurate determination of the case. Do you really only have these few hundred yuan?

　　The prosecutor in charge, Wang Haiman, is a member of the court’s digital economy prosecution team. After carefully reviewing the case file, she found an e-wallet address in the chat messages between Liu Qiang and other people involved in the case. With her rich experience in handling cases, the prosecutor believed that This is likely to be an electronic wallet address for virtual currency, and the gang is likely to use virtual currency for transactions.

　　The public security agency investigated the registration information and transaction records of the e-wallet under Liu Qiang's name. After verification, the e-wallet was registered with Liu Qiang's identity information. During the incident, the account received Tether coins (USDT) equivalent to more than 20,000 yuan. Liu Qiang then liquidated Tether (USDT) and transferred it to his multiple Alipay accounts, and Liu Qiang then divided the stolen goods with other persons involved.

　　Wang Haiman said that in order to deal with the risks of virtual currencies, the People's Bank of China and other relevant departments have issued different documents in recent years. On September 15, 2021, the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with Speculation Risks of Virtual Currency Transactions" jointly issued by the People's Bank of China and other ten departments clearly stipulates that business activities related to virtual currency are illegal financial activities. Therefore, Liu Qiang’s several virtual currency transactions using electronic wallets are themselves illegal.

　　In front of the evidence, Liu Qiang finally admitted to the prosecutor that he collected rewards through virtual currency and then cashed out the profits.

Be wary of "black technology" and not be "tools" for crime

　　In the entire fraud gang, what role does Liu Qiang, who received the money, play? The police tried to find evidence through the apps that Liu Qiang and others used to communicate with each other on weekdays. Unfortunately, no valuable clues about this fraud gang were found. They could only confirm Liu Qiang's confession from the remaining fragments of words. He was only responsible for "inserting boxes". Indeed, Don't know its purpose.

　　"This is a chat software that disappears after reading. Even other members in the group can delete all members' chat history and cannot restore it," said the police officer handling the case.

　　From this point of view, Liu Qiang is just a "tool man" who is responsible for "inserting boxes" in the hotel. There are other people who make phone calls and instigate transfers. Judging from the modus operandi, it is very likely that this is organized, premeditated, and even in the Overseas fraud gangs. Currently, relevant cases are still under further investigation.

　　In view of the fact that Liu Qiang did not have a clear understanding of the facts of the fraud and did not participate in the substantive fraud, on August 14, 2023, the Xiangcheng District People's Procuratorate prosecuted Liu Qiang for the crime of aiding information network criminal activities. The court made the above judgment after a hearing.

　　According to the prosecutor of the Xiangcheng District People's Procuratorate, in recent years, fraud methods have been constantly updated. Criminals use virtual dialing devices to access mobile phone networks and form a criminal chain step by step, with each part having a clear division of labor. Along with this, behaviors such as providing or operating virtual dial-up equipment, building remote computer rooms for electronic fraud gangs, and using virtual currency transactions have gradually replaced the traditional renting and selling of two cards and become the mainstream method of helping information network criminal activities. " The public should understand the relevant laws and be wary of committing crimes without knowing it and becoming accomplices of fraudsters."

　　Wang Jinyan, Zheng Panpan, China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Li Chao Source: China Youth Daily