Recently, a bank in the Baozhen Police Station of the Chongming Branch of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau reported to the police that Ms. Yang came to the bank to consult about loan business and wanted to transfer money to an account, suspected of being fraudulent, and needed the police to be present to dissuade her.
Caption: Part of Ms. Yang's WeChat chat records with the "lawyer" Photo provided by Chongming Public Security (the same below)
When the police arrived at the bank, the staff told the police that Ms. Yang had left quickly as soon as she heard the alarm. According to the staff, Ms. Yang, who is about 50 years old, said that her "lover" who retired abroad had $10.8 million in pension frozen, and asked her to transfer 300,000 yuan to the bank account of "a lawyer" to cooperate with the unfreezing, and then would return to China to marry her.
Worried that Ms. Yang would choose other banks for loan transfer and continue to be deceived, the police quickly called the phone she left at the bank, but no one answered, and searched for her traces in various banks in the jurisdiction to no avail, and finally, the police found her in Ms. Yang's home. During the meeting and conversation, Ms. Yang said impatiently that emotional matters do not need to be intervened by others, and she knows the loans and transfers, which she believes are real and will never be a scam.
It turned out that one day in October 2022, a stranger nicknamed "Changming" added Ms. Yang's WeChat, and during the chat, the other party said that she was a retired pilot abroad and wanted to fall in love and get married in China. After a period of WeChat exchanges, Ms. Yang and "Changming" confirmed a "love" relationship, and as the "relationship" gradually heated up, "Changming" said that his pension of $10.8 million was frozen by the United Nations Asia-Pacific Association, and he needed Ms. Yang's help to unfreeze the frozen funds, and provided Ms. Yang with the contact information of the so-called United United Association for Asia and the Pacific and the "barrister".
Caption: The police learned more about the situation from Ms. Yang and targeted anti-fraud publicity
After Ms. Yang communicated with the association and the "barrister" through WeChat and email, the other party said that it needed 300,000 yuan of safe funds to unfreeze 10.8 million US dollars. At the same time, "Changming" repeatedly urged Ms. Yang to raise 300,000 yuan to help her unfreeze the frozen funds, and promised to go to China to marry Ms. Yang once the assets were unfrozen. After struggling with it, Ms. Yang believed the statement of "Changming" and finally decided to go to the bank to apply for a loan and send money.
Seeing that Ms. Yang fell into the "marriage" scam, the police invited her to the police station to further expose the scam.
At the police station, the police explained to Ms. Yang in detail the common tricks and methods of scammers with real cases and videos of "posing as peacekeepers to defraud domestic ladies" in marriage, which had occurred. After the police's patient persuasion and enlightenment, Ms. Yang gradually realized that she had been deceived, and laughed at herself and was carried away by love. Finally, under the instructions of the police, he deleted the fraudster's WeChat and email, saying that he would not contact the other party again.
Police tips: Online dating must carefully verify the identity of the other party, and when it comes to money transactions, you must be vigilant to prevent falling into traps. If you find a suspected scam, you can discuss with your relatives and friends, and once you find that you have been deceived, you should report to the police in time.
Xinmin Evening News reporter Xie Min