Shanghai police make arrests in large-scale fraud operations
A large-scale fraud involving 50 participants, who used employment information to defraud people, was taken down by Songjiang police.
"Paying thousands of yuan to qualify for a high-salary job" is now found a new type of fraud, Shanghai police said on Tuesday.
A woman, surnamed Zhan, living in suburban Songjiang District, was cheated out of 3,298 yuan (US$475.2) in a scam involving 50 participants.
They lured her in by posting a job opportunity for a fire-protection position, with an 8,000-yuan monthly salary. They promised her if she obtained a "certificate of accomplishment" in fire-protection training, they would interview her for the position.
They then told Zhan she could receive her certificate by taking a course, that would cost her 3,298 yuan.
However, after paying for the course and receiving the certificate, the "company" turned her down after the interview on the grounds that she was not qualified.
Forged business licenses, company seals, and phones were all used for the scam.
Zhan realized she was the victim of fraud and turned to the police.
After investigation, police found that the criminal group used fake business licenses to publish false high-salary recruitment information on a recruitment website, luring in victims and scamming people out more than 2 million yuan.
The gang used a highly organized process during their operation. They played different roles, including human resource personnel, tutors for the class and interviewers, creating a full recruitment process.
The Songjiang police broke up the operation, with 39 members under detention and 11 released on bail pending trial.
Another criminal group with over 30 suspects pretended to be customer service personnel for a loan platform. They were arrested by Minhang police.
Shanghai police have arrested over 300 criminal suspects in over 40 gangs related to telecom and online fraud across the country, since the beginning of 2023.
Apart from pretending to be employers, some swindlers use iMessage to send messages in groups, posing as leaders, acquaintances and customer service personnel of e-commerce and loan platforms to commit fraud.
Minhang police also recently arrested a swindler pretending to be a customer-service representative for a loan platform, charging a victim nearly 60,000 yuan for "risk management."
The police are reminding residents to apply from formal financial institutions and platforms if they have a demand for loans, and not be lured-in by so-called "low interest rate" telemarketing. They also warn of providing personal identity information, especially verification codes over the phone.
If additional fees are required, it is necessary to clearly verify the stipulations, and never transfer money if unclear about the details and situation.
