Renovation of routine! The scammer actually targeted the "Anti Fraud Center"
Recently, several international students mentioned on social media that they have received multiple phone calls from suspected anti fraud centers overseas. Received a call with 96110 overseas, is it really a call from the Anti Fraud Center? What are the doubts about the behavior and remarks on the phone?
Cross border calls
Before receiving a call from the Anti Fraud Center, Ke Xin, who was studying in the UK, had already hung up countless phone calls from unknown sources. This is a common occurrence for her and the international students around her. She usually hangs up directly, while some of her classmates put their phones in airplane mode.
However, this time, unlike before, she received multiple calls from the same number, but she also did not answer them. She carefully checked the number on the Internet. The number with the international area code of Chinese Mainland and the area code of Shanghai was followed by the special number for anti telecom network fraud -96110.
Ke Xin's call history. Respondents provide pictures
Therefore, Ke Xin confirmed that this was the number of the Shanghai Anti Fraud Center, and answered the call for the first time.
The person on the other side of the phone told Ke Xin that telecommunications fraud has been rampant recently. They asked her if she had received any fraudulent phone calls and also mentioned that her phone number has a high probability of being scammed by telecommunications. They asked her to hang up directly when she received calls from unfamiliar numbers or staff claiming to be embassy or visa center staff. Finally, the other party asked Ke Xin if the Shanghai Public Security Bureau was conducting legal publicity for citizens and if she had time. Ke Xin refused and hung up the phone.
The phone ringtone keeps ringing. The other party kept calling Ke Xin persistently until she suspected that there was really something wrong with her. Ke Xin answered the call again, but the other party still reminded her to pay attention to fraud prevention and asked her if she usually handles her passport and ID card with someone else, and if she promptly smears personal information when receiving the package. After receiving a negative answer to the second question, the other party also criticized and educated her to pay attention to protecting personal privacy in the future.
Afterwards, Ke Xin said that so far, the other party has not made any abnormal remarks.
Gradually entering the trap
"He suddenly started asking me if I had used a UK phone number under my name, which was suspected of publishing fraudulent information. They received a report from the public, and because it was done under my name, I had a lot of responsibility." Koxin recalled, and things became strange from here.
Ke Xin has never applied for that phone card, nor has she ever heard of it. She doesn't know how to prove that she is unaware. The other party told her that she needs to be transferred to the Hongkou Branch of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau to make a record and generate a guarantee letter, in order to temporarily exempt her from legal responsibility.
Ke Xin agreed. The other party asked her to search for the phone number of Hongkou Branch on the official website and read it out. After hanging up the call, she received a call from "Hongkou Branch". A person claiming to be "Officer Yang" reported her name, police number, and asked her to turn on the camera. A police officer in police uniform appeared in front of Ke Xin, with the background of the police station. With just one glance, there was only a black screen left in front of her, and a female machine voice prompted the start of the recording.
After completing the transcript, the other party told Ke Xin that they wanted to upload it to the "General Administration" and learned about any illegal activities under her name. After a while, Ke Xin was told that she had an illegal deposit of 2.58 million yuan in a bank card under her name and was suspected of being involved in money laundering criminal gangs. She has been listed as a suspect.
Ke Xin was a bit flustered, thinking to herself, why did a bank card come after the phone card issue was not resolved? Surprisingly, such a large amount of money is involved? "At that time, my focus was no longer on whether these pieces of information were fake, but on how I could prove that I didn't do them," said Ke Xin.
She kept explaining to the other party that she had nothing to do with these things. The other party said that he also wants to trust Ke Xin, but as a police officer, he must be honest and not believe her one-sided words.
This "Officer Yang" obtained information about Ke Xin's domestic and foreign bank cards, including the balance, transfer limit, and card number of the domestic bank card, as well as the front and back of the foreign bank card. Next, ask Ke Xin to log out of all WeChat groups, uninstall all social apps, download a monitoring software called "Telegram", and report the location and any abnormalities every hour. Any behavior that requires leaving the camera for a long time, such as eating, using the toilet, or taking a shower, must be reported. It is particularly emphasized that this matter cannot be told to anyone.
The other party explained that this was to monitor her actions, prevent her from "fleeing in fear of guilt", and also to "protect" her from illegal elements invading social media and eavesdropping. He also comforted her by saying that he did not allow any wrongful cases to occur in his hands and would always support her, making her fully trust him.
August 31st is Ke Xin's birthday, and as she turns twenty, her emotions completely spiral out of control.
Jump out of the mystery
Ke Xin withdrew from all group chats, reporting her actions regularly from 6pm to 9pm UK time until around 11pm when her roommates took action.
The student apartment where Ke Xin and her roommates are located. Respondents provide pictures
"She first posted a very strange message in the group, and after a while, she said she wanted to leave the group. I chatted privately and asked her what was wrong, but she just said it was okay. I asked her if she was cheated, and she said it wasn't. She also asked me to withdraw the message, and all the messages that responded to whether I was cheated were also withdrawn." Ke Xin's roommate, Zhuo Ran, mentioned that the other two roommates even asked the staff at the front desk of the student apartment to come and see her, but Ke Xin still didn't say what had happened. No matter how persuaded, Ke Xin did not disclose any information.
Chat records of Zhuo Ran and Ke Xin. Respondents provide pictures
Zhuoran suspected that she was being monitored. She immediately contacted a student union teacher responsible for the school's enrollment in the China region and asked the teacher to persuade Ke Xin.
Upon receiving a call from the teacher of the Student Union, Ke Xin hesitated a bit whether to mention her situation. But she had met this teacher before and was more willing to trust him than the stranger on the phone. After thinking about it, she temporarily turned off the sound of the surveillance and mentioned her experience for the first time.
As soon as Ke Xin talked about her experience, the teacher judged that it was a scam and analyzed the loopholes for her. This teacher has been involved in handling over a hundred cases of telecommunications fraud, which is why Ke Xin ultimately chose to believe him. At the end of the call, the teacher reminded her not to bother with those scripts and to delete the monitoring software.
"It should have been saved." Forty minutes later, Zhuo Ran received the teacher's message and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Ke Xin deleted the monitoring software and froze all bank cards under her name. At this moment, the atmosphere of "something big happened" and "the sky falling" was shattered in her heart.
"Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to fall into a situation that only involves analyzing it. However, they first taught me the law, then told me that someone else was stealing my information and committing a crime, and then isolated me from all external media. Finally, they controlled my body and mind, causing me to collapse step by step, losing my ability to think independently, and completely believing in them. This process was too unconventional." Ke Xin later mentioned that she also questioned during this process, but the other party never asked her to transfer money, so she chose to continue listening to what they said and continuing to believe in them.
Before the payment of tuition fees for the new semester, Ke Xin's tuition fees had not yet been credited, and there was only one thousand pounds in her bank account in the UK. Zhuo Ran introduced that with the card number, expiration date, security code on the back, and cardholder's name of a UK bank card, online payments can be made without the need for a password. "I don't know why they didn't swipe the money in her card, but I feel like I've been playing life and death speed with them all along," said Zhuo Ran.
After receiving the news from the teacher of the Student Union, Zhuo Ran repeatedly thanked him. The teacher said, "Don't be polite, it's all for the sake of our fellow countrymen and classmates."
What are the doubts
Zhuo Ran mentioned that he has received calls from the Anti Fraud Center at least five times, and his classmates have also received them multiple times. Last year, Zhuo Ran also learned that an international student from another school had experienced the same situation as Ke Xin. "No one believed it, no one answered their phone, and the person on the other side of the phone asked her to self isolate, so she did as she did.".
Recently, China News Network observed that multiple international students mentioned on social media that they had received phone calls from suspected anti fraud centers overseas.
Regarding this, China News Network dialed 96110 in Beijing and was prompted that it was the Beijing Anti Fraud Center. Through the relevant prompt, it obtained the phone number of the Anti Fraud Center of the Shijingshan Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau. The staff of the sub bureau informed China News Network that the Anti Fraud Center will not make phone calls to overseas numbers.
So, how can a person who claims to be a staff member of the "Anti Fraud Center" contact international students by dialing an overseas number? If the other party is not the anti fraud center, why does the call display 96110? How did the other party learn about Ke Xin's identity information when the UK phone card is not a real name?
There is more than one doubt. "Domestic police do not have law enforcement power overseas," said lawyer Ding Jinkun from Shanghai Dabang Law Firm in an interview with China News Service. In addition, "cross-border law enforcement first requires the two countries to establish a cross-border law enforcement cooperation mechanism, and then carry out cross-border law enforcement and assistance work in accordance with the procedures of the cooperation mechanism," said Xia Hailong, a lawyer at Shanghai Kunlun Law Firm.
Given this, how can the "police" in Shanghai directly handle cases involving overseas students online?
Ke Xin's phone ringtone is still ringing, still showing as a call from the same number. This time, she hung up the phone directly.
