Picking up the phone to news that a loved one is missing is the stuff of nightmares, but for many an inconceivable one.
For three families of international students in NSW, that has been their reality this month.
But it wasn’t true.
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A new scam is targeting international students in Australia, forcing them to fake their own kidnappings.
Three incidents have been recorded this month — and NSW Police say the scammers are evolving.
In one incident, a family asked police to carry out a welfare check on a 23-year-old woman in Sydney who they had been told was missing.
Her family had paid approximately $AUD288,000 to a Chinese bank account as ransom for her “kidnapping”.
The woman was located by police on Hunter Street, alleging she’d been forced to fake the incident.
In another incident, a 23-year-old man was intercepted by police in Sydney as scammers were allegedly drawing him in.
Scammers were allegedly pretending to the Chinese Police, and were in the process of asking the man to reach out to his family for money.
The man was allegedly being convinced to request $AUD500,000 in order to delay his arrest for alleged fraud offences in China.
In a third incident, a 20-year-old man in Sydney told police he’d been a victim of the scam.
He alleged he’d been contacted by scammers in August, who pretended to be Chinese Police.
Scammers allegedly told the man he could be deported from Australia for committing a number of financial offences.
They ordered the man to communicate with them daily, and kept him handcuffed in one in-person meeting.
The man’s family was eventually contacted, but refused to pay the requested $AUD220,000.
Scammers then turned on the man, ordering him to serve “official documents” on behalf of Shanghai Police to four different addresses across Sydney, Adelaide and Victoria.
Police believe these four addresses may be the addresses of four other victims.
The scammer’s pattern
The scammers have a pattern of contacting students, usually while speaking in Mandarin, and claiming to be a representative of a Chinese authority, such as the Chinese Embassy, Consulate or Police.
The scammer then claims the victim has somehow been implicated in a crime in China, or that their identity has been stolen.
To avoid legal action, arrest or deportation, the victim is then told they must pay a fee.
Scammers are communicating with victims through Skype, WeChat and WhatsApp following the initial phone call.
But while some victims are transferring large amounts of money into unknown offshore bank accounts, others are being convinced to fake their own kidnappings.
Scammers have instructed victims on how to do so, encouraging them to stop contacting their family and friends and rent a hotel room, then take photographs or video recordings that depict them bound and blindfolded.
This faked information has then been shared with the victim’s relatives overseas, who have transferred money for the “release” of their loved one.
But in some incidents, scammers have the continued to threaten families and demand money — prompting some to contact police.
Millions may have been stolen
Incidents have been reported across the country and internationally, with millions of dollars stolen.
“Virtual kidnappings have developed considerably over the last decade by transnational organised crime syndicates, and they continue to become more sophisticated,” Detective Superintendent Joseph Doueihi said.
“In some cases, we’re seeing evidence of the scammers talking to their victim for months on end.
“We’ve also seen a couple of cases where the victim has eventually been coerced into then becoming the perpetrator and acting as a Chinese official to scam more students.”
Anyone who receives a call from someone claiming to be a Chinese authority should be hyper-vigilant in checking their authenticity.
“While we are working with our law enforcement counterparts to investigate the origins of these scams, we are urging the community to heed our warnings not to respond to the caller’s demands,” Doueihi said.
“If you are ever on the receiving end of similar correspondence, the best thing to do is contact the Chinese Consulate to verify the claims, as well as report the matter to the (police).
“We want to remind victims there is nothing to be ashamed of coming to the police, as we continue to pursue every investigative avenue available to us to put an end to these types of scams.”
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