With the heavy blow to telecommunications fraud at home, a large number of telecommunications fraud gangs have now mostly moved abroad, and in the past five years, northern Myanmar has gradually become the preferred shelter for these fraud gangs.
The returnees live in dormitories of suspected fraud companies in northern Myanmar. Courtesy of respondents
Recently, public security organs in many parts of the country have issued circulars to persuade those stranded in northern Myanmar to return. Northern Myanmar was once a hot word for searches.
Northern Myanmar, that is, the northern region of Myanmar. Jian Kunyi, director of the Practice Center at the Law School of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, which studies cross-border organized crime, said much of northern Myanmar, which borders China, is divided into special zones that have their own armed forces and are not controlled by Myanmar's central government. In order to gain economic benefits, armed forces in some places will not only acquiesce and condone criminal acts such as telecommunications fraud and gambling, but even some elites will participate in the sharing of interests of criminal groups.
In early June, this reporter interviewed three returnees from northern Myanmar in Dangyang, Hubei Province. In October 2020, the three also went to northern Myanmar to seek wealth. According to the three people's accounts, as soon as they arrived in northern Myanmar, they lost their personal freedom, not only did not earn money, but they were also coerced into illegal activities such as telecommunications fraud, and finally they were able to escape after paying a "ransom".
Danyang police revealed that at the end of May 2021, the Danyang Municipal Public Security Bureau has opened a case against Liu Hao and others suspected of committing the crime of illegally crossing the national border. Among the dozens of returnees from northern Myanmar in Dangyang, most of the returnees from northern Myanmar ended with administrative punishment and filed a criminal case, which is the first case.
Netizens shared the BOSS sleepless city scene shared by netizens on a short video platform. Video screenshots
Smuggled into northern Myanmar
Li Lei is 25 years old this year, a native of Zhao Hu Village, Danyang Herong Town, Hubei Province. On June 10, 2021, a reporter from the Beijing News met Li Lei in the Danyang Criminal Investigation Brigade, who is about 175cm tall and thin. During the conversation, there are questions and answers, the speed of speech is steady, the body has maintained a sitting position with both knees together and the upper body leaning forward, and rubbing his hands from time to time.
Li Lei recalled that one day in late September 2020, liu Hao, a junior high school classmate, came to him and said that he had a good job opportunity in Myanmar and could earn 10,000 or 20,000 yuan a month, and asked him if he could go.
Li Lei said that he and Liu Hao are junior high school classmates, often play games together, have frequent exchanges with each other, and have a close relationship. According to Liu Hao's suggestion, "Find a few more good relationships, and there are things to take care of each other over there", Li Lei found a neighbor from his hometown, Xie Yong.
Li Lei's home is a small two-story building built by himself, located on the side of the road that crosses the village. There is a small supermarket on the first floor, Li Lei's father was imprisoned for the case, his mother worked outside the home for a long time, and only his grandparents were in the family. Xie Yong's home is about a kilometer away from Li Lei's family, and Xie Yong's father said that he and Li Lei's father are "brothers who worship the shogun", the two families know the roots, and the relationship between the two children is also very good.
Xie Yong's father thinks that Xie Yong is a bit "high-minded and low-handed", always thinking of doing big things and making big money, but he is not willing to endure hardships and efforts; Li Lei is a person who understands things and is introverted, does not talk much, and has great respect for the elders.
In the police interrogation record, Liu Hao confirmed that it was indeed Li Lei, whom he first sought out, and then Li Lei dragged Xie Yong with him to Myanmar. Liu Hao said in the transcript that in the second half of 2020, he lost four or five hundred thousand yuan in online gambling. Gambling websites also publish recruitment information, the work content is to pull people into the gambling platform and then earn commissions, monthly income of tens of thousands is not a dream, "I was moved at that time."
What exactly do you do in Myanmar? Each of the three people has a different formulation. Li Lei said that Liu Hao was talking about going to an entertainment venue in Myanmar to stir-fry people; Xie Yong told reporters that Li Lei and he were talking about doing projects; and Liu Hao's transcript was: Pulling people into gambling platforms to earn commissions from them, and said Li Lei knew about it.
According to Li Lei and Xie Yong's accounts, on September 28, 2020, Xie Yong in Wuhan, Li Lei and Liu Hao in Dangyang met in Yichang City. On the 29th, they flew from Yichang to Kunming and transferred through Kunming to Cangyuan Wa Shan Airport in Lincang City.
Li Lei recalled that on the evening of September 30, 2020, according to the instructions of the gambling platform customer service, led by the smugglers who assisted in smuggling, they braved the rain overnight and crossed the border on foot. "The 'company' reimburses the airfare and travel expenses to Myanmar."
Liu Hao also mentioned in the interrogation record that the travel expenses of the three people were borne by the gambling platform for recruiting workers, and the smuggling process was received by the snakehead according to the instructions of the customer service.
Li Lei introduced that at seven or eight o'clock in the evening of October 1, 2020, they came to the destination of the trip, the BOSS that never sleeps in the Development Zone of North Hedao In Myanmar.
On a short video platform, netizens suspected of being bosses of the city that never sleep, nicknamed "Lone Star", have repeatedly shared the interior scene of the entertainment venue, and attached the text to a video: "Myanmar's second special zone, Hedao Development Zone Xintiandi Commercial Street BOSS never sleeps, warmly welcome to you!" ”
Small advertisements posted on the streets of northern Myanmar to assist in smuggling back home. Courtesy of respondents
The "job" of cheating people out of money
According to Li Lei's description, the main building of BOSS Sleepless City is a large courtyard composed of two four- and five-story buildings, one building is a working building used for gambling and telecommunications fraud, and the other building is a dormitory area for staff. The three were placed in a room on the third floor of the dormitory building.
Li Lei recalled that on October 2, 2020, the day after arriving at the boss that never sleeps, the three people were confiscated their mobile phones and then taken to a room on the fourth floor of the work building for business training. The room had several long strips of tables, and on the table were more than thirty computers. Each person has a used Apple phone and a computer, but the computer and mobile phone can only be used in the "office". On the day of the training, they also distributed a manual for deceptive words.
Xie Yong's account and Liu Hao's interrogation transcript to the police both mention details such as the manual used for training and the confiscation of mobile phones when entering the workplace.
Li Lei introduced that the content of working in Myanmar began to collect the content of rich people's posts on Weibo, and then copied and pasted it into the "circle of friends" of personal social platforms.
"That second-hand Apple mobile phone downloaded more than 20 social software, at the beginning did not add people, is simply sent 'circle of friends', 'company' requires each social APP must send two times a day, this stage is called 'yang number'." Li Lei said.
Li Lei said that after four or five days of raising numbers, they were required to add people in a wide range of various social software, mainly women, in addition to rich people, they also have to play those female suitors, greet them warmly, invest in their favor, gradually gain each other's trust, and focus on inquiring about each other's economic situation and investment willingness during the chat process.
Li Lei said that when customers are more trusting, they will talk to each other about money, which is a time-consuming process.
According to Li Lei, the staff will also cooperate with each other to jointly hunt "customers". According to its introduction, the "company" has a group called "wind and rain in the same boat", most of which are employees, as soon as a customer is pulled in, the employees will pretend to chat about each other's income and perform for customers. Customers who want to make quick money will inquire privately. "At the beginning, I will tell customers some conventional financial management methods, and after customers trust them, they will talk about online gambling."
Li Lei explained that the so-called online gambling is to bet on gambling websites by choosing to buy large, buy small, buy single and double numbers, etc., and the odds are often doubled. If the money is successfully defrauded, the employee will be given a commission of 1% based on the amount of the fraud. And those gambling sites are actually controlled by "companies". "They want you to win and you win, and if they want you to lose, you lose."
During the interview, Li Lei often needs a moment of silence to recall the above experience, and even if the question involves a suspected crime in the communication process, he rarely uses words such as "can't remember" and "don't know" to reply.
Xie Yong told reporters that he only heard the introduction of the "company" people in the training, to pretend that the "rich second generation" cheated women's money, and "set up" with people in the way of making boyfriend and girlfriend friends, with the ultimate goal of deceiving people to gamble or invest.
For issues such as cheating links and the content of words, Xie Yong often uses "forgot, did not participate, do not know" reply.
Liu Hao's "work" in the interrogation transcript was to promote gambling platforms, pull people to earn commissions, and send information such as links to gambling websites to the circle of friends.
Li Lei and Xie Yong told reporters that because they did not want to do illegal things such as defrauding others of money and money, and because they were worried about their own safety, they wanted to leave at the beginning of their entry into Myanmar, and stayed in Myanmar for less than a week, and did not participate in the actual link of fraudulent transactions. Liu Hao also confessed to the police that after a few days of gambling platform publicity, he turned to a waiter and did not do anything to cheat money.
Li Lei's home in Herong Town on June 14. Beijing News reporter Wu Xiaofei photographed
"Once in, it's hard to get out"
According to Li Lei's statement, there are several security guards with long guns at the casino and courtyard gates of boss that never sleeps, and in the dormitory building, there are two gunmen standing guard on each floor, and there are also people patrolling around the courtyard. Xie Yong also said that the city that never sleeps is "full of thugs in security uniforms."
"It's normal to see people with guns in northern Myanmar." Jian Kunyi, director of the Practice Center of the Law School of Yunnan University of Finance and Economics, which has long studied cross-border organized crime, said that the northern Myanmar region is divided into a number of special zones, which have their own armed forces and are not controlled by the Myanmar central government. "Gun bearers have local armed forces, militias, and possibly casino security guards."
"On the first night I arrived at Kashima, I wanted to leave." Li Lei said that on the night of the stay, he had told the people of the "company" that he wanted to go out to buy some fruits and daily necessities, but it was not allowed, and the "company's" statement was that "it was chaotic outside, and it was not allowed to go out for everyone's safety considerations", but he knew that this was actually restricting personal freedom, and at that moment he suddenly realized that "once you come in, it is difficult to go out."
Li Lei said that on the evening of October 1, 2020, the three held a small meeting and decided to pretend to obey first, understand the environment and then choose the opportunity to leave. "At that time, we felt that there was only one way in front of us, that is, to obey and obey, otherwise we might be locked up and beaten, and safety was not guaranteed at all."
Xie Yong confirmed Li Lei's above statement, saying that he "couldn't get out at all", and he once saw someone flee unsuccessfully, was arrested by the security guards of the "company", and "could not stand up" in front of all employees.
Li Lei recalled that on October 7, they had a "showdown" with the boss to leave. The owner is a middle-aged man with a Fujian accent, less than 170cm tall, relatively thin, yellowish skin and black hair. The boss said that he wanted to leave, but he had to pay more than 20,000 yuan per person, "even if it was the air ticket money, smuggling fee and living expenses for those few days that got us over."
"The boss said the money should be in place within two hours, otherwise we would be locked up in the water prison." Xie Yong said that at that time, they still had a fluke mentality, thinking that these were just threats, until someone brought a person who was injured and looked hungry for many days. Li Lei and Xie Yong said they were scared and immediately contacted relatives and friends in China to raise money.
"I just got off work that night, and he called me to say that he had been tricked into burma, and he asked him to do fraud, and if he wanted to leave, he would have to pay 20,000 yuan, and if he didn't give money, he would be locked up in a water prison." Xie Yong's father said. "There was also Li Lei and a man with a Guangxi accent on the other side of the phone, and the Guangxi accent said that he was the one who escorted them to pay the money."
The call records show that between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on October 7, 2020, Xie Yong made more than 20 phone calls to his father. "At that time, he was very anxious, his voice was very scared, and he called over and over again."
Xie Yong's father recalled that he also spoke on the phone with Li Lei's mother that night to discuss solutions. At that time, the two families planned to call the police, but considering that Xie Yong and Li Lei were abroad, the domestic police could not immediately rescue them, in order to ensure the safety of the two, they decided to raise money to ransom first.
Xie Yong's father said that due to the limited Balance on WeChat, he immediately contacted his wife and nephew and asked them to pay Xie Yong together. "I turned 5,000, my wife turned 10,000, and my nephew turned 5,000."
Li Lei's mother introduced that Li Lei's ransom money was 15,000 yuan from Li Lei's uncle, 5,000 yuan from Coach Li Lei, and some of them were pieced together by relatives and friends. This is consistent with the transfer records provided by Li Lei. "He (Li Lei) hasn't asked adults for money since he went to work as a teenager, and he can't talk to me about things that are not fatal."
Li Lei and Xie Yong's WeChat transfer records show that at about 11:00 p.m. on October 7, 2020, the two swept the code to transfer 21,400 yuan to a person nicknamed "Aipin": "'Aipin' is the WeChat name of a supermarket owner near the casino." Li Lei said that the company does not accept electronic transfers, and the payment can only be made in cash, so it is necessary to transfer money to the supermarket for money.
The reporter noted that from October 7 to 8, 2020, Li and Xie's WeChat had many records of people transferring money to enter, and the amount ranged from a few thousand yuan to tens of thousands of yuan.
Xie Yong said that when he came, he secretly remembered the phone of a snakehead, called the snakehead to pick it up when he left, and smuggled back to spend more than 8,000 yuan, "They (snakeheads) mainly recognize money."
Xie Yong's father mentioned that in the early morning of October 8, 2020, after paying the money, he and Xie Yong had a video call for a few minutes, when Xie Yong said that he had contacted a snakehead to pick them up, and Xie Yong in the video was sitting in a moving car, next to him was Li Lei.
Both Li Lei and Xie Yong believe that Liu Hao's behavior is suspicious. "Before he went, he told me that there was an uncle in Myanmar who was doing legitimate business, and after he went there, it wasn't like that at all... When he left, he didn't go with us, saying that he didn't have any money," Li Lei said, "I still don't know if he was deceived or cheated on us."
Liu Hao said in the police interrogation record that because he could not raise money, he did not go with Xie Yong and Li Lei. In March 2021, when the epidemic broke out in northern Myanmar, he chose to surrender himself and return to China, but before returning to China, he still paid a "ransom" of 45,000 yuan.
The National Anti-Fraud Center reveals criminal acts in northern Myanmar. Video screenshots
Police operations to combat cross-border wire fraud
Police interrogation records record that in October 2020, Li Lei and Xie Yong were intercepted by yunnan border guards when they smuggled back to China. In March 2021, Liu Hao turned himself in at the border police station.
Xiang Yang, a police officer at the Herong Town Police Station in Danyang City, introduced that for those who returned from northern Myanmar, according to the requirements of the Danyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, after returning to their place of household registration after the expiration of the isolation period, they need to collect their biological information and make a record, and the content of the record focuses on interrogating their experience in northern Myanmar. "The main question is whether there are any criminal acts involving telecommunications fraud, cross-border gambling and so on."
Xiang Yang said he recorded the transcripts given to Li Lei and Xie Yong in November 2020. At that time, no trauma was found on the two people, "their private mobile phones did not have information about northern Myanmar, and those involved in wire fraud generally had a working mobile phone, which basically could not be brought back." ”
As for how to verify the authenticity of the information stated by the returnees in northern Myanmar, Xiangyang revealed that in northern Myanmar engaged in legal work, the mobile phone will retain a large amount of information about living and working in northern Myanmar, such as pictures, contacts, work unit certificates, etc. If the returnees cannot provide any verifiable information, "basically doing illegal things in northern Myanmar."
Xiang Yang said that after the interrogation and collection of information at the local police station, the cases of returnees from northern Myanmar will be transferred to the Dangyang Municipal Public Security Bureau. Tang Guocheng, deputy head of the criminal investigation brigade of the Danyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, revealed that in May 2021, the Danyang Municipal Public Security Bureau had already filed a criminal case against Liu Hao and others suspected of committing the crime of sneaking across the national border.
Xiang Yang introduced that at present, Li Lei and Xie Yong are working in Yichang and Wuhan, Hubei, and Liu Hao is working in Guizhou.
Tang Guocheng believes that the difficulty in verifying the returnees in northern Myanmar is to verify whether the returnees are suspected of committing crimes. "In fact, many people are either scamming or gambling abroad, but after they return to China, they will hide their participation in crimes, and mobile phones, computers and other crime tools will not be brought back." Because of the crossing of the border, it is very difficult to collect evidence. ”
According to Xinhua News Agency, on April 8 this year, a nationwide teleconference on cracking down on new types of illegal crimes in telecommunications networks was held in Beijing. Zhao Kezhi, state councilor and general convener of the inter-ministerial joint conference on cracking down on new types of illegal crimes in telecommunications networks, demanded that all measures for cracking down on prevention and control be carried out in a meticulous and down-to-earth manner, and that the frequent occurrence of telecommunications network fraud and crimes be resolutely curbed.
Recently, the announcement of persuasion and return issued by many places has aroused widespread concern. Most of the main contents of the announcement are similar, mainly to persuade people who have sneaked across the China-Myanmar border and stayed in northern Myanmar to engage in illegal and criminal activities such as telecommunications network fraud. Some media analysts said that due to the impact of the epidemic, the Chinese police have been blocked from carrying out law enforcement cooperation abroad, and it is difficult to "fight out" the fraud-related personnel stranded in northern Myanmar. Through domestic pressure to persuade people stranded in northern Myanmar to return, it has also become an important means to stop the high incidence of telecommunications network fraud.
According to the official website of the Ministry of Public Security, on June 17, Liu Zhongyi, director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, informed at a press conference that the Ministry of Public Security has made every effort to crack down on telecommunications network fraud and achieved remarkable results. From January to May this year, a total of 114,000 cases of telecommunications network fraud were cracked across the country, more than 14,000 criminal gangs were destroyed, and 154,000 criminal suspects were arrested, up 60.4%, 80.6% and 146.5% respectively year-on-year.
(At the request of the interviewee, Li Lei, Liu Hao, Xie Yong, all pseudonyms)