Sydney - Thousands of people across Greater Sydney region have
been targeted by Mandarin-speaking fraudsters in a sophisticated
phone scam demanding money under threats of violence, prompting
Australian police to warn the Australian-Chinese community.
The elaborate and ever-evolving ruse targeting "vulnerable members of
the Australian-Chinese community" has already netted at least five
million Australian dollars, New South Wales police
said on Wednesday.
"The caller purports to be a government official and the essence of
the scam is to convince the victim they are in trouble, but they can
pay their way out of it," Linda Howlett, a police detective, told a
press conference in Parramatta, a large suburb west of Sydney.
The call starts with a recorded message in English or Mandarin, and
transfers to a person claiming to be from the Chinese embassy or
consulate, who claims the victim has been implicated in a crime or
their identity has been stolen and could impact on their visa to stay
in Australia or harm could come to their family back home.
The scammers even instruct the victims to fake their own kidnapping
so their family can be extorted into making payments on their behalf.
Howlett said one Sydney victim paid 1.9 million dollars to scammers
and, in the past week, there have been three forced fake kidnappings.
China's deputy consul-general in Sydney, Tong Xuejun, said earlier
this month more than 1 000 cases had been reported since August 2017.
"We have confirmed about 40 cases that caused a loss. The total
amount of money involved is about $10m," Tong was quoted as saying by
the local Daily Telegraph newspaper.