Recently, Chen, a Chinese national, stood in the dock and was arrested for fraud using fake postage.
It is reported that Chen and her husband Hu used fake postage to send more than 34 million packages back to China, making a profit of $150 million.
After the East Window incident, Hu absconded back to China alone and continued to study fake postage mailing.
At the same time, Su, a Chinese in Sydney, was arrested for sending more than 17 million fraudulent text messages, and it is not known how many innocent people were victimized.
Recently, fraudsters have been very rampant, and I hope that friends will be cautious about screening scams.
A few days ago, Chen, a Chinese in California, confessed his crime in court and showed "obvious remorse."
It is reported that she and her husband Hu used fake postage to send more than 9 million packages to China in 6 months, defrauding 150 million US dollars.
At the same time as Chen's arrest, her husband Hu ran back to China. It is reported that Hu is still continuing to study how to make fake postage.
Currently, several of the couple's properties in the Chinese California neighborhood have been confiscated.
Netizens said that the couple has embarrassed the Chinese again, and the road of the Chinese will become more and more difficult in the future.
图源:LA Times
1. The Chinese scammer pleaded guilty in court and sent a "fake package" back to China to defraud 150 million
On April 26, 2024, 51-year-old Chen pleaded guilty in a California court.
根据加州中区检察官办公室（U.S. Attorney's Office Central District of California）消息，陈某承认，半年来，她一直与丈夫胡某使用假邮资向中国运输包裹，数量高达数千万个，诈骗金额超过1.5亿美元（约合10.86亿人民币）。
Now, Chen is facing fraud charges and is in danger of being imprisoned. Her husband, Hu, disappeared without a trace and absconded back to China to continue researching fake postage.
Source: Times
Now, it has been a year since Chen's arrest, and her husband Hu has never appeared.
In May 2023, Chen was detained by the U.S. Federal Police Department. She faces two serious charges, including one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and one count of using or possessing fake postage.
If Chen is convicted by the court, he may face 5~10 years in prison.
The sin began in November 2019. In that year, Chen and Hu established a package transportation company in Los Angeles Industrial City, which was jointly operated by the two. The company specializes in providing transportation services to Chinese logistics companies, including the delivery of packages via the United States Postal Service.
Soon after, Chen and Hu discovered the biggest challenge of running a company - cost management.
Sending a package from the United States to China requires a huge amount of postage, which makes Chen and Hu feel a headache.
Postage is the abbreviation of postal resources, which is the cost of sending mail. In addition to purchasing stamps, there are also ways to pay directly at the post office or to purchase other carriers for prepaid postage.
Source: Times
So, in order to reduce the cost of postage, Hu came up with a "clever trick". He began using counterfeit Netstamps stamps to create false postage, i.e., using fake stamps to send packages in order to avoid paying postage.
It is reported that this kind of stamp can be purchased online and printed on self-adhesive paper to use.
In November 2019, U.S. police launched an investigation into a shipment of packages destined for China that had used false postage. Seeing that the matter was revealed, Hu immediately absconded back to China, where he continued to study how to make fake postage to escape the authorities' scrutiny.
Chen was "thrown" by Hu in Los Angeles, USA, and was responsible for managing the warehouse used by the two to deliver fake postage mail.
图源：New York Post
In the nearly three and a half years from January 2020 to May 2023, the couple reportedly mailed a total of more than 34 million packages containing fake postage back to China.
At first, they put fake postage on mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to get away with it.
They then dismantled the parcels sent by the Chinese suppliers, made a perfect replica of the postage labels (a set of smart barcodes) on the parcels, and then transferred them to their own parcels and shipped them all over the country.
According to court information, Chen and Hu committed fraud, and it is also a crime to recover the "smart barcode" on the package. Because of the smart barcode used in these postage shipping labels, the message will show "Paid".
图源：New York Post
During these 3 and a half years, the Chinese couple used fake postage to cause a huge loss of $1.5 to the U.S. Postal Service. Among them, within half a year of Chen's arrest, the two sent 9 million pieces of mail using fake postage, causing a loss of $9 million.
It is reported that in fact, the mailing numbers on some of the shipping labels used by the two have been discontinued in 2020, while Chen and Hu will be purchased and used in 2023. This has led the US police to target the couple.
U.S. police officers first monitored the warehouse run by the two men and witnessed a delivery truck delivering a large shipment of mail from the warehouse to a U.S. Postal Service facility and "unloading about 12 large cardboard boxes on the truck" full of packages with fake postage.
Source: Times
In court, the judge said that according to the investigation, Chen and Hu were running a company that provided transportation and postage services to businesses, "including e-commerce sellers operating in China," and that they were both seeking "USPS preferential rates" for organic products in the United States.
"Multiple inspections by the Postal Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service have shown that most of the postage used by Chen and his company to mail goods within the United States is counterfeit. ”
图源：The Mirror
According to LA Times, Chen's sentencing hearing will be held on August 2, 2024, and Chen has been charged with a total of two crimes, each of which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Her husband, Hu, who is still on the run in China, is charged with conspiracy to defraud federal agencies, possession and dissemination of counterfeit shipping obligations, and counterfeiting stamps. Currently, the U.S. Postal Service and the IRS Criminal Investigation Bureau are investigating the case.
In response, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service said, "These crimes are a constant reminder that fraud against the U.S. Postal Service is not an innocuous crime, and that individuals who attempt to commit these crimes face significant penalties for their criminal conduct." ”
At the same time, the inspectorate also referred to its expanded project to combat postal crime. The project, known as the "Safe Delivery Project," will be announced on May 12.
"This arrest should serve as a reminder to the criminals that the Postal Inspector and our law enforcement department will continue to pursue them in order to protect the financial integrity of the U.S. Postal Service. It was an arrest, so the defendant was presumed innocent until proven guilty. As the case has not yet been fully decided, we are unable to comment further at this time. ”
Picture: CBS News
This incident sparked a heated discussion among Chinese friends in Australia.
A small partner said, "It's all a little clever that has killed the Chinese in the United States, and the road for the Chinese will be more difficult in the future." ”
Another friend was angry about this, saying, "If you travel a lot at night, you will hit a ghost, and if you are smart, you will be mistaken by your cleverness! Don't pity this kind of person, you deserve it!"
There are also friends who sigh that there are more and more Chinese crimes now, "Why are so many Chinese committing crimes now?"
Just this year, a Chinese Australian man was taken to court on charges of fraud, and if convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
Source: Little Red Book
2. Sydney Chinese were arrested for fraud and sent 17 million fraudulent text messages
In Australia, it is not uncommon to receive scam text messages posing as post offices. A Chinese man who was recently arrested was found by the police to have sent tens of millions of such fraudulent text messages.
According to Yahoo News, Su, a Chinese man in Sydney, is accused of sending more than 17 million scam text messages in a week, and if convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
图源：Yahoo News
It is reported that 39-year-old Su was arrested on December 12 last year at his residence in Moorebank, Sydney.
Police found multiple SIM cards, SIM card boxes and electronic devices at his residence. SIM card boxes can be used to send scam text messages in bulk.
He was accused of being involved in a large-scale cyber fraud case.
According to the message, Su impersonated companies such as Australia Post and Linkt and sent more than 17 million fraudulent text messages to victims.
图源：Daily Telegraph
According to the police, Su's residence concealed two activated SIM boxes and a large number of SIM cards and electronic devices.
The seized SIM box can hold more than 250 SIM cards and can send up to 150,000 text messages per day.
The police believe that the seized items are closely related to Su's fraudulent activities.
图源：Daily Telegraph
According to court documents, Su purchased a batch of driver's licenses, passports, and personal identification information between September 2022 and December 2023 with the intent to commit fraud.
Scam text messages created using this information often pretend to be legitimate agencies and contain fraudulent links that could result in huge losses if the victim clicks on the link and enters personal information without realizing it.
图源：Daily Telegraph
On Wednesday, April 10, Su appeared in Campbelltown District Court, and prosecutors told the judge, "This case is very complex and the amount of evidence is huge. ”
The trial of the case was postponed until July so that the lawyer could receive a briefing on all the evidence against Su.
If convicted, Su faces up to 10 years in prison.
图源：Daily Telegraph
Just in January this year, Sam Lee, the founder of an Australian-Chinese blockchain business, was indicted in the United States for cryptocurrency fraud, allegedly involving up to 2.86 billion Australian dollars, and the case also involved two other defendants.
Source: ABC
据《ABC》报道,美国司法部宣布对35岁的Sam Lee,以及美国公民Rodney Butron和Brenda Chunga提出指控,三人被控共同创立了HyperFund,该公司也被称为HyperTech、HyperCapital、HyperVerse和HyperNation。
The trio are accused of defrauding investors by falsely claiming that investors will receive handsome returns from non-existent cryptocurrency mining operations.
U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L Barron, said the Justice Department would "hold accountable those who carry out these and other fraudulent schemes."
He said the level of alleged fraud was "alarming".
Sam Lee was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud.
If convicted, Sam Lee could face up to five years in prison and must turn over "property acquired directly or indirectly as a result of these conspiracy."
Sam Lee。 图源：ABC
Lee and his co-defendants are charged with offering and selling investment contracts to the public through HyperFund's online investment platform from June 2020 to November 2022, according to U.S. Department of Justice court filings.
Allegedly, the company made false claims in its promotional materials, including claims that investors who purchase a membership will receive a passive return of 0.5% to 1% per day until the company doubles or triples the investor's initial investment.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, HyperFund also claims that the returns it pays will come in part from revenue from its large-scale crypto mining, but HyperFund does not conduct such operations.
Allegedly, from July 2021, HyperFund began to block investors from withdrawing money.
Source: ABC
According to The Guardian, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed another civil lawsuit alleging fraud and unregistered sale of securities by Sam Lee.
Sam Lee, 35, is known as the "Bitcoin Prince" in Australia, and in some Chinese investor communities, he is known as the "Bitcoin Brother."
According to his Linkedin account, Sam Lee is the founder or CEO of three Melbourne-based blockchain companies and has "the Chinese skills needed for a full career."
Sam Lee faces one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, and if convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
Burton faces one count of conspiracy to carry on an unlicensed money transfer business and one count of carrying on an unlicensed money transfer business. He also faces up to five years in prison for each count.
Chunga has also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud. She faces up to five years in prison.
Source: ABC
Recently, Chen, a Chinese American, pleaded guilty in court, admitting that he used fake postage to mail more than 34 million packages, and made a profit of $150 million by fraud.
Her husband, Hu, quickly fled back to China after realizing the incident and continued to work how to make fake postage.
Now, Chen may face 5~10 years in prison, and her and Hu's property in the Chinese area of California has also been confiscated, and Hu has not been heard from so far.
Source: News
Some Australian Chinese friends said that Chinese crimes are becoming more and more frequent.
In April this year, Su, a Chinese in Sydney, was sued in court for sending more than 17 million scam text messages using his device in a week, and could face 10 years in prison.
In January, Sam Lee, the "Prince of Bitcoin", was also charged with fraud in the United States and could face five years in prison.
Recently, there are many fraud routines, and there are all kinds of text messages and emails, so you must be careful.