4 held over US$320,000 instant message scam

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July 7, 2015

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4 held over US$320,000 instant message scam

By Chen Huizhi | July 7, 2015, Tuesday |

Print Edition

FOUR people have been detained on suspicion of operating a social media scam that cheated a Pudong-based company out of 2 million yuan (US$322,000), police said yesterday.

The suspects are accused of hacking the firm’s QQ instant messaging account and masquerading as its boss.

They then instructed the company’s accountant to transfer the funds to a bank account they had set up using fake identities, police said.

The accountant said she did not question the request as her boss often assigned work via QQ and that she was convinced it was him as the scammers used the correct avatar and knew his name.

The transfer took place on April 27, and the money was later forwarded to dozens of other bank accounts, all of which were opened with fake papers, police said.

Over the following weeks, bank cards linked to the accounts were reported being used at various point-of-sale machines.

Police did not explain how they identified the four suspects but said the first was caught in Binyang County in Guangxi on June 9, and the others soon after.

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4 held over US$320,000 instant message scam

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