National Anti-Scam Centre warns of spike in scams threatening Chinese students
Date 21 September 2023
Scammers are increasingly using a range of alarming tactics to threaten, intimidate and steal from Chinese students living in Australia, the National Anti-Scam Centre has warned.
Reports of scammers posing as Chinese police to target young people studying in Australia more than doubled in August, compared with previous months. Since the beginning of the year, there have been a total of 1,244 reports and $8.7 million in losses to the scam.
“We are very concerned by the rising number of reports we have had from Chinese students, who are understandably terrified by the threatening nature of these scams,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
“Scammers are using deplorable tactics to scare their young victims into handing over their money and providing their personal information. We are particularly disturbed by the intrusive video surveillance many victims have been subjected to over extended periods.”
“The National Anti-Scam Centre is sharing its intelligence with Australian police and working with universities to warn Chinese students, particularly in Victoria, NSW and the ACT,” Ms Lowe said.
How the scam works
Scammers make a phone call to the victim, initially pretending to be from a phone company or financial institution and inform them that their phone or identity is being used to in a scam or in serious financial crime. When the victim says that they are not involved they are transferred by the scammer to another scammer pretending to be the Chinese police. The number seen on caller ID during the transfer will seem to be the official police phone number as scammers are using telephone spoofing technology.
The victim is told they may be extradited to China or deported. However, the victim is offered the chance to remain in Australia while the investigation takes place, on the condition of a payment. The scammers use technology to create fake documentation including arrest warrants.
This scam often involves many calls from different people and sometimes video calls with what appear to be Chinese police. There have also been reports of a person dressed as a police officer visiting the Australian homes of the victims to deliver documentation.
Many of the victims were monitored 24 hours a day using messaging platforms and device video technology.
In fact, Chinese authorities are not involved in these contacts. This is conducted entirely by scammers purporting to represent various official Chinese institutions.
“This type of scam is highly sophisticated and convincing because it involves multiple perpetrators who play on their victim’s fears by threatening them and their family with years of jail time,” Ms Lowe said.
“In one case, a young man paid over $400,000 to scammers after he was told he would be arrested. He was also told he was under surveillance and was instructed to have Facetime open 24 hours a day.”
Warning signs
- You receive a call, message, or email out of the blue from someone claiming to be from a phone company, bank, government department, or trusted company.
- The caller claims that someone is using your identity or alleges you have carried out or are involved in a serious criminal matter.
- You are told you need to prove your innocence.
- You are threatened with legal action, arrest, or deportation.
- The caller will tell you that to fix the matter you will need to pay a fee, fine, bond or bail money.
- You are told not to speak about this matter with anyone.
- You may be told to keep your camera on all the time as you are under surveillance.
- The caller may ask for your personal information, such as your passport details, date of birth or bank information.
Protect yourself
- Don’t be pressured by a threatening caller asking you to prove you have not been involved in a crime. Hang up and don’t respond.
- If someone tells you that you are being investigated, speak to the local police in Australia, the international student support body of your university or your local Australian-Chinese community support service.
- Don’t engage with the caller and do not follow their instructions. If you do, they will escalate their intimidation tactics and attempt to get your money.
- Never leave your camera on because someone has instructed you to.
- If you are concerned for your safety, contact the police immediately by calling 000.
Top tips for avoiding scams
STOP – Don’t give money or personal information to anyone if unsure. Scammers will try to verify who you are or use fear to make you believe their story. Don’t rush to act. Take your time and don’t give money or personal information.
THINK – Ask yourself could the call be fake? Scammers pretend to be from organisations you know and trust. Contact the organisation using contact information you source independently, so that you can verify if the call is real or not. If you’re not sure, hang up.
PROTECT – Act quickly if something feels wrong. Contact the police if you have been harassed or intimidated and your bank if you have lost money to a scammer. Seek help from IDCARE and report to Scamwatch.
Read this media release in Mandarin: 国家反诈骗中心警告：针对中国学生的诈骗活动激增
Sophisticated scams targeting Chinese international students ramping up, ACCC warns
International students are being bombarded by scams asking for money and personal information — and authorities say the bad actors are using increasingly sophisticated techniques.
Published 22 September 2023 11:41am
Chukchi Li is a data science student at the University of Sydney and says she receives a scam phone call at least once a fortnight, and a text message from scammers every day.
“I think they might want [to] get my money, because they want the bank number and my personal details, information, something like that,” Li told SBS News.
“And the funny thing is, they even provide two languages for the next conversation. Like, they offer English language or Chinese.”
Chukchi Li is among the group of people increasingly being targeted by scammers.
The National Anti Scam Centre says international students – especially Chinese students – are increasingly being singled out with an alarming range of tactics to threaten, intimidate and steal from them.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been just over 1,200 scam reports, with an estimated $8.7 million lost to scammers.
A spokeswoman from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which operates the centre, said some students have paid staggering amounts.
“We’ve heard one story of a young man who paid over $400,000 to the scammers and we’ve seen a significant spike in the last month or so in the losses people that are reporting, and also a spike in the sophistication of the scam,” the spokesperson said. “And that’s why we’re alerting students now to be on the lookout for this behaviour.”
Desma Smith heads up the international student advisory support team at Melbourne’s Swinburne University.
Smith said in her own experience, the scammers put the students under a lot of pressure.
“They will escalate from, if the student asks questions and seems to be a little bit unsure or a little bit wary, they will put them on to ‘my sergeant’ and then another person will speak to them,” Smith said. “And it’s very high pressure. A lot of implication that you have been implicated in a crime, and we need your cooperation and your silence in order to make – to prove your own innocence.”
Smith said the scammers can be very sophisticated in their approach.
“I do remember several years ago when this particular type of work started, in the scam area, one student was told, when she didn’t believe who they were, that she could ring the Beijing police station,” she said. “She looked up the phone on the website, rang the number, and was back-connected in with these scammers again.”
The ACCC says technology allows scammers to use these sophisticated techniques.
“It will look quite official because the scammers are using spoofing technology, so it will look like the official Chinese authority number,” the spokesperson said. “The student will then be threatened with deportation in relation to these spurious charges that they’re caught up in, and they will be told that the only way to avoid that will be to pay a fine or a bond or similar.”
Li said some of her fellow classmates have been caught up in these scams.
“I had a friend – like last month, they took thousands of dollars from her,” she said.
Smith said international students need to be careful – but support is available.
“They’re pretty vulnerable,” she said.
“Once they realise they have been taken advantage of, they’re really unsure what to do about it.
“It’s one of the reasons that my team runs a large international student welcome, to get ourselves and our team in front of them, so that they understand if you’re not sure, just ask.”
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