Guildhawk warns of fake police officer scams targeting Chinese community

David Clarke, Chief Security Officer at Guildhawk, is warning members of the Chinese community to be vigilant for a new scam involving fake Chinese police officers.

The fraud hit the headlines in July when the BBC revealed how Chinese people are being targeted by criminals pretending to be Chinese police officers.

One British Chinese woman living in London told reporters how she was tricked into handing over her life savings in the belief that this was to pay bail to avoid arrest and extradition to China on fabricated charges.

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It started with a phone call

The elaborate fraud began with a phone call to the victim from a man (the fraudster) claiming to be a customs officer in China investigating an illegal parcel sent in her name.

As the fraud progressed the victim was invited onto a WhatsApp video call featuring an ‘Officer Fang’ dressed in police uniform and given a tour of what looked like a real police station.

Officer Fang accused the victim of a serious fraud and told her to sign a confidentiality agreement and download an app that would enable the police to listen to everything she was doing.

Read more about AI in modern cyber frauds.

Fearful about personal safety 

Fearful for her safety, the victim did not speak to anyone. When Officer Fang called back a few days later, he claimed that other suspects had made statements accusing the victim of being the mastermind behind the fraud and showed video images of a man in a police interview room naming her.

The victim was told she could stop extradition to China by paying bail money. Relieved, she sent the fraudsters her life savings of £29,000, but days later the fraudsters demanded more money.

Desperate, she asked a friend for a loan who then told the victims’ daughter who explained it was a scam and helped her report the crime.

Thankfully, the victim did not send the criminals any more money and her bank refunded the money sent.

A growing problem

Authorities have warned of an increase in scams involving fake Chinese police officers around the world including France, New Zealand and the United States. It is believed that criminals operate such frauds from Myanmar, Cambodia and other countries in Asia.

Speaking to the BBC, David Clarke, who is an expert in fraud and cyber prevention and a former head of the City of London Police Fraud Squad, says fraudsters are now using immersive stories to deceive people.

• Like smart salespeople, they conduct research using social media, WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook to find personal information about their victims to hyper-personalise messages. They then use Artificial Intelligence to commit the fraud.

Improving trust

David encourages victims to report fraud to the police even if they feel embarrassed.

He says: “Language and culture are sometimes a barrier to reporting to the police. If this is the case, please speak to a friend. Importantly, if you are in the United Kingdom, or there is a connection to the country, contact Action Fraud - the national fraud reporting centre. If English isn’t your first language you can make a report in your language. You can also report scam texts and mobile calls to 7726.”

• Whilst the police can only investigate a small number of frauds due to the large volume of reports received, they can close scam websites and phone numbers to protect others from falling victim.

David says: “Let's all work together, otherwise the criminals will win”.

More information

To report fraud, visit: www.actionfraud.police.uk or phone 0300 123 2040.

For information on how to report fraud to Action Fraud in another language, visit: www.actionfraud.police.uk/reporting-in-local-language.

For more information on reporting scam texts and mobile calls, visit Ofcom