"Not meeting" and "not contacting" are significant characteristics of past telecommunications network fraud cases. With the increasing crackdown by public security agencies, it has become more challenging for fraudsters to transfer funds. As a result, some fraudsters have started to adopt online scams and offline cash withdrawal methods to carry out their schemes. Recently, the Tianjin police disclosed a new type of scam involving "virtual currency investment plus offline transactions," with four members of the criminal group approved for arrest by the procuratorate.

Can investing in virtual currency make money?

Woman defrauded of over 100,000 yuan in online romance scam

In May of this year, Ms. Shang, who lives in Tianjin, noticed that a stranger on a social platform had followed her, liked her videos one by one, and even took the initiative to add Ms. Shang as a friend.

Victim Ms. Shang: He told me he was a staff member of a confidential unit. After we got to know each other, he would greet me warmly every day and sent me many of his life and work photos. When I saw that the other party had good personal conditions and was quite caring, I felt he was sincere.

After chatting with the other party for a few days, Ms. Shang quickly established an online romantic relationship. A month and a half after they met, the other party claimed to have insider information and could help Ms. Shang invest in financial management on the so-called 'Shanghai Futures Exchange' platform. The other party also shared their account password with Ms. Shang, asking her to help manage the investment.

Victim Ms. Shang: He told me that because he was in this department, it was not convenient for him to operate some investment software. After I followed his instructions, I saw that his profit interface had indeed increased significantly, and since he told me all the accounts involving money, I felt more at ease with him.

After a few days of operation, the other party also taught Ms. Shang to independently apply for and register an account, and suggested that she use a virtual currency called 'U currency' for investment on the platform, which would yield even higher returns. However, to avoid online transaction risks, this 'U currency' could only be purchased with cash first.

Victim Ms. Shang: He said just trust me and give it to me, I will help you contact someone to buy 'U currency' for investment. The first time he made me take out 40,000 yuan, I handed 40,000 yuan to a 'U merchant' who could buy 'U currency' at a fast-food restaurant. After giving it to him, I saw that my account had increased by that amount, and there were corresponding returns.

Seeing the substantial investment returns in her platform account, Ms. Shang was still unaware that the platform itself was a fraudulent one, with amounts displayed that the scam gang could manipulate at will.

Victim Ms. Shang: The second time I mentioned it myself, I took out more than 60,000 yuan in cash again and gave it to that 'U merchant' at a street corner.

Two offline transactions

Criminal gang enters police radar

Ms. Shang handed over more than 100,000 yuan in cash to the so-called 'U merchant' in two installments, thinking she had made money through virtual currency investment, but unexpectedly received a call from the police in Tianjin.

Victim Ms. Shang: The police said I might have been a victim of telecom fraud. At that time, out of trust in him, I didn’t take what the police said seriously. After the police contacted me multiple times, I tried to withdraw money from this account and found that I couldn't, which made me realize that I had indeed been scammed.

The police sorted out the case and found that the so-called 'U currency' investment was just a facade. The scam Ms. Shang encountered in the early stages was essentially a typical romance-related false investment and financial management scam. Her so-called online boyfriend who claimed to work in a confidential position was merely a persona created by foreign scammers. The so-called 'U merchant' was a cash transfer gang that helped scammers transfer funds.

Sun Qian, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Wuqing Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau: This virtual currency is considered an illegal financial activity in our country. Criminals take advantage of the public's lack of understanding of virtual currency, creating a false impression that it can appreciate in value. They exploit the trust of victims, requiring them to pay cash offline, converting cash into virtual currency, which is then transferred by criminals using various wallet accounts.

The police formed a special task force to try to find clues from the locations of Ms. Shang's two offline transactions.

The special task force discovered that the man who transacted with Ms. Shang twice had a similar physique, and after the incident, he left the scene in the same white business vehicle. Therefore, the police initially determined that the two offline cash withdrawals were likely committed by the same person.

Concentrated net collection

Police captured the cash laundering gang

The police investigation found that this white business vehicle was a cloned vehicle, and the four men in the car were all wearing masks, making it difficult to confirm their identities. After extensive investigations, the police finally found key information about one of them.

After confirming this person's identity, the police quickly clarified the identities of the other three individuals in the car. The police found that every time after committing a crime, these four men would take a white business vehicle to a fixed location.

Li Zhongheng, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Wuqing Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau: Among the four suspects in this gang, two are brothers living together, while the other two live in their respective homes. They only appear together during crimes or sometimes when they go out for meals.

As the investigation deepened, the special task force identified the members of the cash withdrawal and transfer gang led by Xu and Wang. After gathering relevant evidence, they launched an arrest operation, first capturing the suspect Xu.

Subsequently, the police captured the remaining suspects in other neighborhoods one after another.

Upon investigation, since July of this year, this gang has committed more than 10 cases of cash laundering under the guise of so-called 'U merchants' in Tianjin and its surrounding provinces and cities, involving an amount of over 500,000 yuan.

Li Zhongheng, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Wuqing Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau: They contact their suppliers through overseas software, who inform them where tasks and orders are available, and then they go to take the orders. They would go to the agreed location with the victims to receive cash. They take a commission of 2% to 3%, and if the distance is far, their suppliers would reimburse their travel expenses.

Currently, four members of the gang have been legally arrested by the People's Procuratorate of Wuqing District, Tianjin, and the funds defrauded from Ms. Shang are still under further investigation.

Liu Jianlin, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau, reminds everyone: impersonating currency merchants to lure you in with high returns to invest in financial management, especially in virtual currency investment and financial management, is all a scam. Please stay away from high temptation and keep your money safe.