Buying raw stones in live broadcasts can earn you millions? Don’t believe it! Beware of new scams in live broadcasts

New scams have emerged in live webcasts. For example, a foreign prince wants to buy back jadeite at a high price, but it only costs 5,000 yuan to buy it in a live webcast. Another example is that lost cultural relics overseas are in urgent need of someone to keep them. If you buy them right away, you will get this opportunity and receive a huge storage fee. Would you be tempted by such a thing? In fact, these are all new scams.

Spend five thousand to buy jadeite raw stone, and then buy it back for over one million yuan, easily making hundreds of times profit in one resale. Is this reliable?

"These are Chinese cultural relics that have been lost abroad. If you help keep them, I will give you a huge amount of storage fees." You can be patriotic and make money at the same time. Is this true?

There are many kinds of exaggerated scenes appearing in online live broadcast rooms, and behind them are carefully designed scams.

The anchor named "Northeast Xiaodong" was selling some so-called jadeite raw stones in the live broadcast room. He told the fans in the room that each of these raw stones was worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, but in his room, they could be bought for only 5,000 yuan. The huge profit margin attracted a large number of fans to place orders and buy them.

Among those who placed orders was Ms. Hong from Jiaxing, Zhejiang. In April this year, she bought a large number of so-called jadeite raw stones in this live broadcast room.

Ms. Hong's daughter Xiao Zhang: One day we found a few stones under the bed by chance, and we knew she might have been cheated. We tried to persuade her, but the old lady was stubborn and didn't listen. So we told her that there is no such thing as a free lunch, because at that time he was promoting the idea that a prince from Myanmar would come to recycle these raw stones.

According to the anchor, all jadeite raw stones purchased by fans will later be recycled by a prince from Myanmar. By then, the price of these raw stones purchased for 5,000 yuan each will increase to 800,000 to 2 million yuan.

Ms. Hong’s daughter Xiao Zhang: To be honest, the difference is too big. Generally speaking, such a thing is impossible to happen. Because she trusts Xiaodong very much, she thinks this is true. When she gets the money, she will buy a house or something.

Xiao Zhang realized that her mother, Ms. Hong, was likely to have been scammed, but at the time, Ms. Hong believed what the anchor said. In desperation, Xiao Zhang had to call the police for help.

Victim Ms. Hong: The anchor said that there are raw stones in Myanmar, which are full of jadeite. He sent all of them to us, and we paid 5,000 yuan. He didn't charge us, but only paid a little for the shipping fee, which is quite expensive to send from Myanmar.

Facing the police, Ms. Hong became more and more excited as she spoke, and even took out the raw stone she had just received to show the police.

Jin Fengming, a police officer from Xincheng Police Station, Xiuzhou District Branch, Jiaxing Public Security Bureau: These stones look black to us. They don't look like gemstones at all, because they are very black. Anyway, if they are thrown on the roadside, no one will pay much attention to them.

Ms. Hong bought a total of 43 stones like this. During her conversation with the police, she always believed that what she bought were all raw jadeite stones. In her opinion, the anchor was an honest man and would not cheat her.

In order to verify the authenticity, the police checked the anchor’s account on the spot, but the results of the query showed that the business license registered by the other party was for selling braised food and had nothing to do with jadeite raw stones.

Jin Fengming, a police officer from Xincheng Police Station, Xiuzhou District Branch, Jiaxing Public Security Bureau: The qualification uploaded at that time was a stewed food store, so I asked the aunt, "Do you think it's reliable for a stewed food store to sell raw stones?" She said at that time that she felt that the business license uploaded was not real, but the raw stones he sold must be real.

At this point, Ms. Hong was still stubborn. So was it true that what she bought was not jadeite raw stone? In fact, it was very simple. One could tell whether it was real or fake by cutting it open. But Ms. Hong strongly rejected this suggestion.

Jin Fengming, a police officer from Xincheng Police Station of Xiuzhou District Branch of Jiaxing Public Security Bureau: Ms. Hong said that if you cut the stone, they will not want it if you recycle it later.

Afterwards, the police took Ms. Hong to a local geological museum and asked experts to identify the jadeite stones. The identification results showed that these so-called jadeite stones were all ordinary stones. This result made Ms. Hong panic because these stones cost her more than 230,000 yuan in total.

Zheng Jia, a police officer from Xincheng Police Station of Xiuzhou District Branch of Jiaxing Public Security Bureau: 230,000 yuan. Because we discovered it in time and went to their door to dissuade them, we refunded the money through the platform, of which 160,000 yuan has been returned. We will continue to pursue the remaining money by punishing the suspect.

At present, this case is still under further processing.

Create an antique expert persona and claim to pay someone to keep the cultural relics

The baits that attracted netizens were not only jadeite raw stones, but also so-called antiques and cultural relics. How could they be bought casually? In order to make everyone believe that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, the network anchor involved in the case also laid the groundwork, saying that he was an expert and a boss, and had no shortage of money; if you placed an order, you were helping him, and you would get a huge storage fee afterwards. Mr. Guo from Shenyang, Liaoning fell into the trap.

The talkative anchor in the live broadcast room is named Li, and he has created a persona for himself as an antique purchasing expert. Why is he asking people to buy antiques under the banner of purchasing antiques, and even raising it to the level of "protecting China"? In April this year, Mr. Guo from Shenyang, Liaoning Province, accidentally saw this live broadcast room and was quickly attracted by the live content inside.

The victim, Mr. Guo: I followed him for a few days and found out that he was live-streaming in Thailand. After that, he bought an antique. He bought it back. He said he bought it at an auction house and needed fans to keep it for him. There was a storage fee.

It turned out that the anchor surnamed Li claimed that he bought a batch of antiques that had been lost from China to other countries while purchasing antiques in Southeast Asia, but during the purchase process, he offended a mysterious Japanese family and was being hunted, so he could not bring the antiques back to China safely. So he asked patriotic fans to buy the so-called antiques, and he would send them by express delivery from overseas, and after he returned to China, he would repurchase the antiques at an equivalent price and pay the storage fee.

The victim, Mr. Guo: He said that he would collect the items at my home within two or three months, and then he said there would be a storage fee, which was 1 million yuan. He made this promise.

By taking a picture of the so-called antiques in the live broadcast room, you can recover the cultural relics lost overseas from China. After a short period of storage, you can also receive a huge storage fee. Such a good thing moved Mr. Guo, and he immediately paid 3,888 yuan and took a picture of a vase. However, when he received this so-called antique vase, he realized that he might have been cheated.

The victim, Mr. Guo: The shipping address seemed to be Guangzhou. I received the goods and found that this antique was not so perfect. The craftsmanship was mainly of poor quality.

Afterwards, Mr. Guo found the anchor named Li again on the platform. When he contacted him, he found that he had been blocked by the other party, so Mr. Guo reported the case to the police.

After investigation, the police found that the videos initially posted by this account had nothing to do with the purchase of antiques, but were some so-called touching and inspirational short videos, the purpose of which was to build up his own persona. In these short videos, the anchor involved, Li Moumou, portrayed himself as the boss of a chamber of commerce.

Yang Dongze, deputy director of Zhennan Police Station, Kangping County Public Security Bureau, Shenyang: They made a fake badge of Longteng Chamber of Commerce, and everyone wore the badge when they showed up in front of the video to prove that they have the strength. They are like a big consortium, making people believe these things.

Most of these short videos depict Li Moumou helping ordinary people and giving back to society after he became rich. For example, in this video, a delivery man kneels down to express his gratitude to him because he provided him with a new job opportunity.

The police investigation found that these so-called inspirational and touching videos were actually performed by people hired by Li.

Tang Pengtao, director of Zhennan Police Station of Kangping County Public Security Bureau in Shenyang: He recruited extras through a group for 300 or 500 yuan. I wanted to shoot a joke, and then someone took the order and contacted them.

The police investigation found that the reason why Li shot and released these short videos was for the sole purpose of attracting traffic. In a few months, these short videos attracted hundreds of thousands of fans to the anchor Li. After accumulating a certain number of fans, Li began to package himself as an entrepreneur who likes to collect antiques under the guise of purchasing antiques at high prices. In addition, he also produced and released a large number of videos about him buying "antiques" door-to-door.

Tang Pengtao, Director of Zhennan Police Station, Kangping County Public Security Bureau, Shenyang: There is a term "sewing machine" on the Internet, which refers to so-called antiques, old objects, and recycling old sewing machines. Titles like this are all antiques, because the platform prohibits the word "antique", so they don't say antiques.

In these videos, Li drove to various parts of the country and purchased a large number of antiques and cultural relics that he authenticated as authentic, and each time he made the purchases with generous transfers of money.

Self-directed and self-acted short videos as preliminary preparation for fraud

The internet anchors in this video, whether they are the touching and inspiring boss or the so-called experts who come to buy antiques, are all self-directed and self-acted in their own dramas. Their purpose is to attract fans and make the fans in the live broadcast room believe in him.

Li started live streaming on the Internet, claiming to be both a wealthy and caring person and an expert in purchasing antiques on site. With this dual personality, Mr. Li started live streaming on the Internet. Mr. Guo, who accidentally saw the live streaming information, happened to encounter such a scam.

The police investigation found that the so-called antiques and cultural relics lost overseas were actually cheap handicrafts purchased by Li and others on a small commodity wholesale website, and were directly shipped to netizens by wholesalers through the "drop shipping" method. The claim that they would be recycled at an equivalent price and pay huge storage fees in the future was a complete lie.

Yang Dongze, deputy director of Zhennan Police Station, Kangping County Public Security Bureau, Shenyang: In fact, recycling is just a gimmick from the beginning to the end. They have never thought about recycling, nor have they really taken action to go to a fan's home to recycle these "antiques". They don't have the financial strength to do so. They really recycle these "antiques" according to what they said in their live broadcast room, which cost hundreds of thousands of yuan each.

After the police arrested Li, they found several accounts on the short video platform that used the same fraudulent methods as Li. Upon investigation, it was found that these accounts were jointly operated by Li and three other suspects.

Tang Pengtao, director of the Zhennan Police Station of the Public Security Bureau of Kangping County, Shenyang City: When we expanded the scope of the investigation, we found that the other three suspects who helped him appear in the film also had different accounts, and they cooperated with each other. Today I am the protagonist, and the remaining three are supporting roles. Today he is the protagonist, and the remaining three are also supporting roles.

According to police statistics, Li and others made illegal profits totaling more than 700,000 yuan. At present, the suspect has been detained by the police for suspected fraud, and the case is under further investigation.

New tactics use AI technology to help fraud gangs launder money

"Beware of new fraud methods, don't be a fraud tool" is the theme of this year's "National Anti-Fraud Action" publicity month. The term "fraud tool" is a general term for those who help fraud gangs "run points" to launder money, promote and divert traffic, and other illegal activities.

Turn your head left, turn your head right, blink your eyes, open your mouth. Are you familiar with these scenes? But these videos are not real. They are made with photos using AI technology. Can you tell? These videos were discovered by the police during an investigation of a fraud case.

In 2023, the Nanfen Branch of the Benxi Public Security Bureau in Liaoning Province received a tip that there was an abnormality in the bank card of a man named Zhao in the jurisdiction.

Wang Yongqiang, deputy director of the Nanfen Branch of the Benxi Public Security Bureau: The pattern of his bank card transfers has also suddenly increased sharply recently, possibly millions a day.

After investigation, the police found that Zhao did not have a job and had no other source of such a huge income.

Xiao Xiang, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Nanfen Branch of Benxi Public Security Bureau: He is over 60 years old and has no source of income and no fixed income.

The money in Zhao's card could not have come out of thin air. The police found that the transfers in these cards had nothing to do with the cardholder himself. So where did the huge amount of money in Zhao's card come from? The police immediately interrogated Zhao, and Zhao quickly confessed that he had sold the bank card to his friend Liu for use.

Xiao Xiang, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Nanfen Branch of Benxi Public Security Bureau: By swiping the bank card every day, he could make a profit ranging from 500 to 1,000 yuan a day. He thought this was a good idea, so he sold all three of his bank cards to the other party's gang, and then he could make a profit ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 yuan a day.

Based on the clues provided by Zhao, the police quickly arrested his friend Liu. After Liu was arrested, the police found that he was just an intermediary responsible for collecting bank cards, and his superior was someone else. So who was Liu's superior? The police investigation found that Liu had traveled to Sanya, Hainan with his superior. By checking the passengers on this flight, the police quickly locked in Liu's superior, a man named Ren.

Xiao Xiang, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Nanfen Branch of Benxi Public Security Bureau: Ren asked me to introduce some friends and relatives who can rent out bank cards, and then I will give you some money.

Faced with the temptation of interests, Liu began to collect the bank cards of his relatives and friends and provided them to Ren.

Analyze the capital flow and find that most of the funds are remitted to overseas accounts

The police found that most of the funds were transferred to overseas accounts, and they also had a lot of evidence of Ren's money laundering, so they immediately launched an arrest warrant.

Xiao Xiang, deputy captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Nanfen Branch of Benxi Public Security Bureau: We found more than 50 bank cards and 50 mobile phones involved in the case, and all of these mobile phones were being used to transfer money at work.

The police noticed that many videos saved in the mobile phones seized at the scene showed people opening their mouths, blinking their eyes, and doing various actions. So what were these videos used for?

Wang Yongqiang, deputy director of the Nanfen Branch of the Benxi Public Security Bureau: For example, if you use a bank card to transfer large amounts of money frequently one day, you may need further verification, not just by entering a password.

In general, the main way for banks to verify whether abnormal transactions are made by the person himself is to perform facial recognition. Bank card holders need to point their mobile phone screen and perform some actions according to specific instructions. Only after passing the verification can they transfer money. So Ren thought of using artificial intelligence technology to solve this problem.

Peng Xinfa, captain of the second brigade of the Benxi Public Security Bureau's Telecom Fraud Crime Investigation Detachment: The suspects obtained the cardholder's photos mainly to use the cardholder's photos and AI technology to generate animated images or videos to deceive the bank's facial verification system, thereby making faster and more frequent transfers to achieve the purpose of money laundering.

In this case, the police arrested four main suspects and seized more than 50 bank cards and 50 telephones that were illegally purchased for "running points". The transaction amount involved in the case reached more than 70 million yuan.

At present, the case has been sentenced according to law, and the four defendants have been held criminally responsible according to law. Among them, Zhao, who sold many of his bank cards for illegal profit, was sentenced to eight months in prison for the crime of obstructing credit card management.

Hu Zhiwei, deputy director of the Guidance Department for Combating New Cybercrimes of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security: Don't think that these things that help telecommunications network fraud are small. For example, if you sell your own bank cards, mobile phone cards, and Internet accounts, the bank cards you sell may cause property losses to dozens of people. The phone cards you rent out may make fraudulent calls to hundreds or thousands of people. The Internet accounts you rent out may send fraudulent information to tens of thousands of people, leading them to encounter fraud.

In this regard, the police remind that renting or selling your bank card or phone card to others to engage in fraudulent activities not only has great social harm, but also has serious legal risks. Summer vacation is coming, and you should be careful about part-time jobs during the holidays. Online fraud gangs often take advantage of students who are not well-versed in the world to engage in offline promotion and diversion criminal activities, such as distributing pornographic cards and inviting people to form groups under the pretext of giving small gifts.