In "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong's hairs "can change their roots and should be at their heart". In real life, more than 10 criminal suspects in Zhoucun District, Zibo, Shandong Province, used a software called "Dashengbao (pseudonym)" to repeatedly swipe and reset the second-hand mobile phone, and then automatically registered social accounts with their own "research and development" programs, and even "changed" more than 3 million WeChat accounts in two years.
These accounts were sold to telecommunications network fraud and cross-border online gambling platforms, and then became tools for wire fraudsters to lure victims with false identities, engage in "naked chat", "pig killing plate", "investment fraud", "single fraud" and other crooked and evil tools.
This jaw-dropping case of "selling numbers" was recently cracked by the Shandong police, and the criminal suspects will be severely punished by the law.
How can such a huge number of WeChat accounts get involved in the black and gray industry chain of telecommunications network fraud with strict division of labor?
More than 3,000 mobile phones in the main den "produce" WeChat accounts in batches
A community in Zhoucun District.
In the room of tens of square meters, the computer screen constantly flashes the chat transaction of the criminal suspect's "selling number"; there are hundreds of mobile phones on the 6 metal shelves in the house, which quickly and automatically register WeChat accounts under the control of the program; there are boxes of second-hand mobile phones on the ground, and there are more than 3,000 rough statistics... If you don't see it with your own eyes, the police handling the case can hardly believe what is in front of you.
Metal racks and mobile phones inside the suspect's den. Photo courtesy of Zhoucun Branch of Zibo Municipal Public Security Bureau
"It's a WeChat account 'processing plant'!" Lu Huashun, commander of the second squadron of the criminal investigation brigade of the Zhoucun Branch of the Zibo City Public Security Bureau, recalled the scene of the arrest at the scene and said with emotion, "The ground is full of second-hand mobile phones purchased, charging and working 24 hours a day." ”
A large number of low-cost mobile phones are constantly re-brushed and reset on the metal shelf, and then automatically apply to register a WeChat account under the control of the program. In the main den of this "number selling" gang, the police also found more than 20 computers, more than 40 bank cards and other crime tools.
"As long as the program does not have problems, it only takes a few minutes to register a WeChat account." According to the criminal suspect's confession, from 2019 to the recent incident, the gang registered and sold more than 3 million WeChat accounts abroad. October to November 2020 was the gang's "most prolific" period, with more than 400,000 WeChat accounts registered for sale in more than 30 days.
How was this extraordinarily large criminal gang that illegally registered and sold WeChat accounts ended up by the police?
Back in September this year, the Zhoucun branch learned that the legal representative of a company in Shandong used technical means to register WeChat accounts in large quantities and sell them overseas. The Zhoucun sub-bureau immediately organized police forces to carry out arrest operations against the crime dens. The police first arrested the main suspects in Zibo, and then arrested some suspects in Hangzhou, Shenzhen and other places.
"High-tech" concocts WeChat account "black market"
The reporter learned that from technology development to operation and maintenance sales, this case exposes a full-link, all-element malicious registration of social account black and gray industry chain.
-- The professional division of labor is hierarchical. After investigation, the criminal suspect set up a leather bag company, modified its parameters after purchasing second-hand smartphones in batches on the Internet, and purchased a large number of mobile phone numbers, automatically registered WeChat accounts and sold them, thus realizing the whole set of criminal procedures of computer operation of multiple mobile phone registration accounts and sales.
Criminal suspects use mobile phones, computers, bank cards, and other tools to commit crimes. Photo courtesy of Zhoucun Branch of Zibo Municipal Public Security Bureau
- Virtual currencies evade supervision. When combing through the funds involved in the gang, the police found that in order to hide their identities and evade supervision, most of the criminal suspects paid and settled funds through virtual currency transactions.
------------------------ "The gang used an offshore social software to evade the crackdown." Wang Geng, the fourth-level police chief of the cyber security brigade of the Zhoucun sub-bureau, introduced that the "customers" who buy WeChat accounts are in strong demand, and there are more than 10 fixed internal trading groups in addition to "retail investors".
Malicious registration of social accounts fuels the high incidence of wire fraud
According to the Zhoucun sub-bureau, at present, 8 criminal suspects have been approved for arrest on suspicion of helping information network criminal activities, and the remaining 7 criminal suspects have been taken compulsory measures in accordance with the law.
In recent years, there have been many cases of telecommunications network fraud, and telecommunications fraudsters need to use a large number of social accounts in the process of fraud. According to the police, as the state increases its crackdown on telecommunications network fraud, it is becoming more and more difficult for criminal suspects to use social accounts to carry out illegal acts. Therefore, criminals have the idea of maliciously registering fake social accounts.
At present, the police are still investigating the sources of telecommunications fraud cases and associated mobile phone numbers involved in these accounts, and have found a number of related cases.
"Registering social accounts in large quantities, providing them to fraudsters in the form of sales, rentals, etc., and being used as a criminal tool is actually equivalent to providing technical and tool support to fraudsters." Li Huaisheng, an associate professor at the School of Criminal Justice at China University of Political Science and Law, said that according to the contact situation with fraudsters, malicious registration of social accounts may constitute a joint crime of fraud or the crime of helping information network criminal activities.
In more than 2 years, more than 10 criminal suspects, more than 3 million WeChat accounts... These accounts have become a tool for fraudsters to commit crimes, and the victims are difficult to count. How should flashing software be regulated? Where do the phone numbers associated with social accounts come from? How to combat the "gray space" of using virtual coins? Relevant regulators need to actively fulfill their responsibilities and remain vigilant against telecommunications network fraud and its black and ash industry.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
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