China Overseas Chinese Network, December 11, title: Chinese people pay attention!
What’s falling from the sky is not necessarily a "pie", but it may be a "trap"
Recruiting with high salaries, investing in making money... Do you feel moved after seeing this information?
Wait a minute, think twice!
Behind the seemingly lucrative opportunities like "pie in the sky" may be a lie trap crafted by scammers.
Data map: Seized mobile phone for fraud in telecommunication network.
Photo courtesy of Zhenjiang Police
Trap 1: Hiring part-time staff with high salaries
Do you need a part-time job?
The salary is high and the job content is very simple.
The “recruiter” claimed that some businesses need manpower to increase sales, and the job applicants need to do is to add items to the shopping cart, like certain posts, or transfer money to a bank account, etc.
After completing these tasks, you will get a corresponding commission.
Recently, similar recruitment scams for hiring temporary workers with high salaries have appeared in Singapore.
When you believe that there is such a high-paying job, you have begun to step into the "trap" of scammers.
Subsequently, the scammer will ask the victim to download some collection software in order to obtain "salary".
But before getting the "salary", you must first pay.
Once the victim transfers the money, the scammer will "evaporate".
After this series of procedures, the victims found that not only did they fail to receive wages and commissions, they were also defrauded of a sum of money.
Trap 2: Book a cleaning service at a preferential price
Malaysian Chinese Ms. Chen found an advertisement for booking the service of a cleaning company when she searched for hourly maid services on social media. She was attracted by the preferential price written above.
After contacting the person in charge according to the WhatsApp link shown in the advertisement, Ms. Chen downloaded a mobile application according to the instructions of the other party in order to leave personal information for appointment service.
Next, she was about to pay the deposit. After entering the user name and password, the bank's transfer page turned into a blank page.
Ms. Chen thought that there was a problem with the bank's online service, and switched to another bank card to pay. However, the same situation occurred after entering the user name and password.
"I contacted the person in charge of the cleaning company to inform me of this situation, and if the other party told me that I could pay after the maid came to clean the house."
The next day, Ms. Chen needed to pay with a bank card when shopping, but found that the deposits in the above two bank accounts were transferred to the same bank account.
The maid who was supposed to come to clean at the scheduled time disappeared, and the person in charge of the cleaning company could no longer be contacted.
Ms. Chen realized that she was deceived and chose to report to the police.
Data map: American Street View.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Liao Pan
Trap 3: Internet lovers introduce a "coup" to make money
In the United States and Canada, fraud cases related to "killing pigs" and virtual currencies occur frequently.
Earlier, Mr. Lin, a Chinese American, was defrauded of US$80,000 because of this type of fraud, of which US$60,000 was still a deposit from a friend who planned to buy a house.
Mr. Lin met a woman through a short video website, and then switched to WhatsApp chat at the request of the other party.
From a simple greeting at the beginning, to slowly creating trust and talking about love.
The scammer claimed to invest in digital currency and encouraged Mr. Lin to invest and make money together.
Mr. Lin downloaded a piece of software in accordance with the instructions of the other party. At the beginning, he invested 20,000 US dollars, and he soon showed that he had earned several thousand dollars.
The scammer then urged Mr. Lin to increase his investment, causing Mr. Lin to invest his friend's house purchase deposits elsewhere.
When Mr. Lin planned to exchange cash from the software to return it to a friend, the website stated that he needed to pay US$90,000 in taxes and some management fees, and Mr. Lin realized that he was cheated.
Not only did Mr. Lin lose his hard-earned savings, he was also regarded as a liar by his friends.
Regarding this type of scam, the Richmond Police in Canada also summarized some common routines: The scammer usually contacts the victim through dating software or social media. After establishing an online relationship, the scammer will propose so-called investment opportunities to persuade the victim to participate. Investment, the victim ultimately suffered heavy losses; the scammer used the list of relatives and friends on the victim’s social media to pretend to be relatives and friends, which made the victim lose his guard when participating in the investment scam; the scammer would learn about their lifestyle in the victim’s social media posts. And formulate a deception strategy that suits each victim; the scammer will give the victim a considerable return on investment in cryptocurrency websites. The victim usually increases the investment after the initial profit, until the funds cannot be withdrawn; the scammer claims that they have invested through the investment. The virtual currency made a profit and disappeared after receiving the victim's funds.
Trap 4: Buying old banknotes at high prices
For 100 ringgits for 30,000 ringgits, it sounds like a stable and uncompromising transaction.
A Malaysian young man of Chinese descent lost about 10,000 ringgits.
The Chinese youth received a message from a man on social media saying that he would buy the old 100 ringgit in cash for 30,000 ringgit.
The youth took the initiative to contact the other party and said that he had 100 ringgits of old cash.
However, the other party said on the phone that the Chinese youth needs to pay various fees first, and promised that the money will be returned to him when the payment is made.
As a result, the Chinese youth transferred funds to each other four to five times in one day through the three bank accounts provided by the other party, amounting to approximately 10,000 ringgits.
An employee of one of the banks asked the young Chinese why he would conduct such a transaction and told him that it was a scam.
The Chinese youth found out that he had been deceived and reported to the police.
Data map: Street view of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sipaphoto copyright works are prohibited from reprinting
How to avoid similar scams?
1. Don't be greedy for petty gains in work and life.
Find a job, buy and sell items, etc. through formal channels that can be verified.
2. If you are pulled into a suspicious group by a stranger, you should report it immediately to prevent others from falling into the trap.
3. Some fraud groups have strong simulation skills, and people are more likely to be fooled because they are "people they know".
It is recommended that when you receive any news, try to call people you know to confirm, and be suspicious of sudden concerns.
4. Never disclose your password, verification code, etc. to anyone, and pay attention to protecting personal information.
5. Only buy cryptocurrencies from reputable exchanges, etc., and study carefully before investing.
6. The other party should be vigilant when requesting remittance for any reason.
Assuming that they have been scammed, the public can quickly contact the bank to see if the money can be stopped; or they can report to the local police.
It may not be difficult to distinguish between "pie" or "trap" by keeping your eyes open and discerning the routine.
(Source: China Overseas Chinese Network WeChat Official Account; ID: qiaowangzhongguo; Data: Singapore "Lianhe Zaobao", US "World Daily", Malaysia "Sin Chew Daily", Canadian "Sing Tao Daily", Malaysia "Singhwa Daily", etc. ; Author: Liang Yi)