South Yorkshire Police have warned Chinese students about a new money-robbing scam.
The scammers disguise themselves as employees of The Chinese Embassy, Immigration or Customs Services, the Chinese Police, or Royal Mail under the pretence of solving an international crime.
Andy Foster, from the Fraud Coordination Team, said: “The criminals carrying out this fraudulent activity are very convincing and are using threats to frighten and trick innocent students, many of whom have only recently arrived in the UK, into transferring large amounts of money overseas.
He then went on to say that fraudsters are believed to have access to personal information which belongs to the victims and encouraged everyone to spread the word on this scam.
One student from The University of Sheffield, who wishes to remain anonymous, had money stolen for her bank account.
She said: “One morning when I woke up I received a phone call, that claimed they were calling from the Chinese Embassy. They said I got involved in a money-washing case and two elderly were dead because of me. They urged me to find out what happened, got my identification card and showed me a warrant for my arrest. They asked me for 10,000 Chinese Yuan for bail. They then threatened me and said that if I did not cooperate with them they would extradite me to China”.
Police have urged anyone who has been victim you to report it to Action Fraud, the UK’s national fraud and cybercrime reporting centre, by calling 0300 123 2040 or online at actionfraud.police.uk.
