According to the Voice of China News of China Central Radio and Television, "you can recharge 500 yuan for only 420 yuan" and "the latest arrival time is 72 hours...... When you see such an advertisement, will you be moved? Recently, a method of "slow charging" of telephone bills has appeared on the Internet, and the discount is not small. However, these seemingly simple and ordinary top-up transactions may involve the risk of fraud, and your phone card may be suspended, and it is more likely to fall into the complicated and interlocking money laundering trap. How can it be used as a tool for indirect money laundering?
Not long ago, the Anti-Fraud Center of the Lengshuitan Branch of the Public Security Bureau of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province received clues from the operator involved in the case, saying that some citizens recharged their phone bills at low prices through the Xianyu platform on the Internet, but the mobile phone cards were blocked by the public security organs after the phone bills arrived. After receiving clues, the police of the anti-fraud center determined that this was a new type of illegal and criminal act of using phone bills to "slow charge" to launder money for cybercrimes.
The police successfully arrested the criminal suspect Tang (Photo courtesy of the Lengshuitan Branch of the Yongzhou Public Security Bureau)
Liu Hongxiang, a police officer of the Anti-Fraud Brigade of the Lengshuitan Branch of the Yongzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, told the Voice of China that since November 2023, in order to earn benefit fees, the criminal suspect Tang has published advertisements on the platform for low-cost phone bills through the Xianyu account under his name, and attracted a large number of users to place orders by selling the "slow charging" business that is far below the market price. After obtaining the user's mobile phone number, Tang then informed the "upline" of the mobile phone numbers and the amount of recharge that needed to be recharged, and the "upline" used the funds in the account of the victim who was defrauded to recharge the phone bill to these mobile phone numbers.
Low-cost phone bill advertising (source: Xianyu business)
That is to say, there are at least two links and four roles in this chain, namely Tang, who acts as an agent for the "slow charging" phone bill business and receives rebates, the owner of the "slow charging" phone bill service who places an order in Xianyu, and the telecom fraudsters who actually obtain the money for the "slow charging" order, and the victim who deposits the "real money" phone bill in the owner's account after being defrauded. As an agent, how did Tang contact the "upline"?
Liu Hongxiang said: "The suspect Tang contacted people who could carry out telecom fraud through the 'Telegram' social software, and the telecom fraudsters were doing 'swiping' fraud. Tang posted an advertisement on the Xianyu APP, 420 yuan or 405 yuan can be charged with 500 yuan of phone bills, and the owner was greedy for cheap after seeing it, so he placed an order on Xianyu. Tang got the phone number and sent it to the telecom fraudsters, who then sent it to the victim and asked the victim to 'swipe the bill' and recharge 500 yuan to the phone number. ”
As a result, the owner of the "slow charge" who placed an order on the Xianyu platform received a 500 yuan phone bill recharge, and the suspect Tang transferred more than 400 yuan paid by the owner to the gang that carried out telecom fraud in the form of USTD virtual currency after deducting about 40% of the service fee, so as to complete the money laundering, and in the end, only the victim who was defrauded by "swiping" suffered actual economic losses. As an "upline", how does the telecom fraud gang guide the victims step by step through "swiping orders" to use the funds in their accounts to recharge phone bills to these mobile phone numbers?
Liu Hongxiang said: "The victim found that someone posted an advertisement on some social platforms that he could do part-time work, so he found the publisher, and the publisher told him that the premise of the part-time job is that a certain amount of money can be used to do the 'task', for example, the first order is to charge the phone bill, and 600 yuan can be returned if you charge 500 yuan; The second order may be larger, the third order is larger, and when the fourth and fifth orders reach tens of thousands, the fraudsters will let the victim make up another order on the grounds of 'brushing' the wrong order or not following the instructions to 'brush the order', and then the other party will lose contact when the money is recharged, and then the victim slowly realizes that this is actually a fraud. ”
Liu Hongxiang explained that this can also explain why the amount of phone bill recharge cannot be received in real time, and can only be "slow charging".
Liu Hongxiang said: "Because the owner of the machine after placing an order in Xianyu, the number is finally transmitted to the victim, there is a process in the middle, and the victim does not necessarily recharge immediately after receiving the number, so the suspect Tang Mou, who recharges the phone bill, will emphasize to the buyer that 'the phone bill will be received after 48 hours or 72 hours'." ”
Recharge instructions issued by "slow charging" phone bill merchants (Source: Xianyu merchants)
Liu Hongxiang specifically mentioned that after many users place an order, they receive a strange call the next day, and the other party claims that they made a mistake and accidentally charged the wrong phone bill, and asks for a refund; of course, there are many more users who receive a verification call from the local police station. Their behavior of "slow charging" phone bills is passively becoming accomplices in other people's crimes.
Liu Hongxiang said: "It was because the victim of telecom fraud mistakenly thought that the number was the number of the wire fraudster, so he went to report the case and provided it to the public security organs." It is precisely because the owner is greedy for cheapness that he may let himself fall into it, because when they place an order for 'slow charging' in Xianyu, the seller who charges the phone bill will send a reminder, 'You may receive a harassing call to contact you and say that you have charged wrong, please ignore it'. ”
The seller who charged the phone bill told the owner not to pay attention to the "harassment information" (Photo courtesy of the Lengshuitan Branch of the Yongzhou Public Security Bureau)
The victim of "swiping orders" mistakenly thought that the owner of the "slow charging" phone bill service ordered in Xianyu was a telecom fraudster (Photo courtesy of Lengshuitan Branch of Yongzhou Public Security Bureau)
In fact, money laundering gangs use the "cloak" of legitimate top-up phone bill transactions to achieve the purpose of covering, grafting, and transferring illegal and criminal funds, making it difficult to recover the losses of victims of telecommunications fraud. This kind of criminal method of money laundering in the form of "slow charging" has a strict chain of interests and a complex gang structure, which makes it more difficult for the police to supervise and crack down. It is understood that the Lengshuitan Branch of the Yongzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau has arrested Tang on March 6, and at present, Tang has been criminally detained in accordance with the law, and the case is being further investigated.
Criminal suspect Tang was criminally detained in accordance with the law (Photo courtesy of Lengshuitan Branch of Yongzhou Public Security Bureau)
Seemingly simple and ordinary top-up transactions may involve the risk of fraud, making people fall into the trap of money laundering with complicated processes and interlocks. So, what are the formal phone bill recharge channels?
China Mobile customer service said: "You can recharge through the China Mobile APP, and WeChat and Alipay are also formal and legal recharge channels." Others, such as bank cards or UnionPay, can be recharged, but it belongs to a third-party platform, and there may be a delay in the arrival of the account, but it will not be delayed for too long. If there is no special 'slow charge', it will arrive in two hours at the latest. ”
China Unicom's customer service said: "China Unicom APP, WeChat, Alipay, China Unicom official account, and small programs can all be recharged, and there are only a few formal recharge channels." It is advisable not to 'slow charge' as I have not heard of this kind of offer. If the bill has not arrived in two hours, there must be a problem, and it will generally arrive in ten minutes. ”
However, the reporter searched for "slow charge" on the Xianyu APP last night (24th), and still found a large number of accounts doing "slow charging" business of phone bills.
The reporter searched for "slow charge of phone bills", and the interface showed that "Xiao Xianyu did not find the baby you wanted"; and entered "slow charge of phone bills", and a large number of accounts that provided "slow charge" services appeared
The reporter contacted one of the merchants to consult how to become an agent of the "slow charge" phone bill business, and the other party provided the reporter with a bill of lading system that can earn the difference, which can not only recharge the phone bill at a lower discount, but also recharge the electricity bill and gas bill at a low price.
The agent said: "We will give you a background recharge URL, as well as the account number and password, after logging in, the price will be displayed on it, and you can place the phone number of the person who placed the order to the corresponding channel." If you sell 94 yuan on Xianyu for 100 yuan, and we take the price of 91.5 yuan, you can earn 2.5 yuan when you submit it to the bill of lading system, and the more you want to earn the more you earn. I am your superior, I take the goods for 91 yuan, give you 91.5 yuan, and earn you 0.5 yuan for every 100 yuan of phone bills. ”
The interface after logging in to the online bill of lading system
The online bill of lading system recharge interface
The public security organs hereby remind that low-cost recharge of phone bills, water bills, electricity bills and other advertisements is a "trap", you may become a part of the money laundering link; do not believe the so-called slow charge discount information, and always be vigilant against network information; there is no official recharge discount activity, please choose a formal official channel for recharge payment.
Source: Anti-Scam Daily Telegraph