Chinese Police Crack Major International Telecom Fraud Case

 25 May, 2012
[Beijing Times via Sina Tech]

Chinese police announced yesterday that on Wednesday, in collaboration with Taiwanese police and forces in other counties, they mounted a simultaneous operation that smashed a major telecom fraud ring and arrested more than 482 criminal suspects across Asian countries including China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Fiji. Most of the arrested suspects were in China (177 arrests) and Taiwan (286 arrests).

The fraud ring used telecom networks and stolen or “phished” bank and credit card details to steal more than 73 million RMB (more than $11 million). In one of the biggest individual cases of fraud police have connected to this ring, criminals called a Jiangsu woman named Sha and told her that her company’s bank account was suspected of being used for money laundering and ordered her to submit to investigation by a Nanjing court.

Thanks to an array of hacks and tricks they were able to provide Sha with enough evidence to convince her the ruse was real, and they asked her to transfer the money to a designated account as a kind of bail money with the promise that after she had been cleared of the money laundering charges, the money would be transferred back to her. You can probably guess what happened next: she transferred more than 12 million RMB in company funds to the “bail” account, and then it all mysteriously disappeared.

Although this gang has been shut down, police have reminded the public that these criminals are good at covering their tracks, and that everyone should be careful who they share sensitive information with, especially online or over the phone. There are still telecom fraudsters out there looking to clean out your bank account.

The case is also being touted as an example of successful international police cooperation, something that will likely become more necessary as major telecom and internet companies in Asia begin moving into neighboring companies and establishing regional (rather than national) networks.