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Man cheated out of S$4.5 million in phone scam
The 36 bank cards Wang transferred money to came from many Chinese inland cities, Philippines and Thailand.
By Jia Xu,
China Daily, ANN | Photo: Internet | 01-06-10

SHENZHEN, CHINA - A man lost 22 million yuan (S$4.5 million) to a gang of criminals through a telephone scam in Shenzhen, south China in only five days. The police in Bao'an district of Shenzhen city destroyed the gang, catching 21 crimals, recovering 1.125 million yuan in illicit money, two cars, 315 bank cards, and one kilogram of ICE Drug in late April, the Guangzhou Daily reported Monday.

The whole crime process started with a phone call to Wang, saying his landline in Shenzhen was bound to a landline in Dongguan city, Guangzhou on March 29. And Wang refused to pay the bill because he knew he didn't have any landlines in Dongguan. The one who called himself a member of "Dongguan telecom company staff" then suggested he report the case to police in Dongguan city.

Wang agreed and was trapped in a chain of "vilifications" — he was accused of laundering by "Dongguan Security Bureau," and in order to "absolve his misdoing", he had to transfer all his money to a "safe account". Wang went along with the suggestion, and transferred 22.64 million yuan to 36 different bank accounts during March 30 to April 2. After Wang's transfer, he didn't get any phone calls from the Dongguan procuratorate and police bureau. He realized he was cheated, and then called the police.

The Bao'an Station set up a special crew to investigate the case, finding that the "Dongguan Telecom staff" was from Ganzhou city, east China's Jiangxi province. A web phone was used to make the fake call. The 36 bank cards Wang transferred money to came from many Chinese inland cities, Philippines and Thailand.