China News Service, July 27. According to 1688 News Australia, the "Daily Telegraph" reported that eight Chinese students living in Sydney, Australia were victims of a "virtual" kidnapping plan. In this year alone, criminal gangs have made more than 3 million Australian dollars in profits through such extortion.
The NSW police are cooperating with the Chinese government, hoping that community residents will pay attention to this kind of fraud gangs, and they are doing their best to combat crime.
This is a kind of "virtual kidnapping" crime, in which the criminal persuades the young victim to create the illusion of being kidnapped and extortion the family's money.
Grant Taylor, head of the NSW Kidnapping and Serious Crime Investigation Division, said: "These criminals have access to data that allows them to obtain thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in extortion money from their victims."
"The criminals are almost all people who speak Mandarin. They claim to be'representatives of Chinese government departments', including the Chinese embassy, consulate or police, and said that the victims are related to criminal cases in China and must pay fees to avoid repatriation and visas. Be cancelled or arrested."
"There are different statements, but the purpose is to make the victim fear that they may be deported or give up studying abroad. Part of the scam is to convince the victim to pretend to be missing. They may send a message saying that they have been kidnapped and then check into the hotel. Don’t use social media or mobile phones."
Taylor said that some victims were persuaded by criminals to take photos of themselves with their hands and feet tied, blindfolded, or to record audio calls for help and send these materials to their families.
This whole set of actions is done through mobile phones. The victims have not been in real danger, but they will use technology to hide their location. The criminal also encouraged the victim to continue to communicate with his family through encryption software similar to WeChat and WhatsApp.
The victim was subsequently threatened to transfer large amounts of funds into unknown overseas bank accounts. Once these extortion payments are received, the offender will continue to act and increase the required amount of funds.
"We usually receive reports that the victims have no money, or they heard from other residents in the community that this is probably a scam and should be reported to the police."
In one of the cases this year, a family thought their daughter was kidnapped and was in danger and transferred A$2 million to the criminal. The police said that if they receive a similar call, they should call the police immediately or contact the Chinese consulate or school.
NSW Police Officer Darren Bennett said the police had contacted the Chinese Consulate in Sydney to remind community residents of the existence of this scam.
Bennett said: “Virtual kidnapping is taking advantage of people’s trust in authorities. In the past 10 years, transnational organized criminal groups have carried out such scams. Although the phone calls seem to be made randomly, in fact, scammers seem to be targeting The Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney has told the NSW police that relevant Chinese authorities, including the police, prosecutors or courts, will not contact students via mobile phones and require payment of funds or transfers. Therefore, if this happens, it is a scam. This year alone, the NSW Police have received 8 reports of such virtual kidnappings. The amount of extortion ranged from A$20,000 to A$500,000. One of the cases , The victim’s family paid A$2 million."