CNBC AI News, July 25th – Authorities in Zhejiang Province, China, issued a warning this week after a near-miss incident highlighted the sophistication of telecom fraud schemes. Police in Tongxiang City, Jiaxing, intervened just in time to prevent a woman, identified as Ms. Li, from being scammed.
Responding to a fraud alert, officers arrived to find Ms. Li on the phone with a suspected con artist. Acting swiftly, they seized her phone, discovering that it had already been remotely compromised.
The phone’s screen was blacked out, displaying a message indicating “official operation.” Attempts to exit the screen proved futile, suggesting a deep level of control by the fraudsters.
Officers successfully severed the remote connection by removing the SIM card and restarting the device, averting potential financial losses.
Subsequent investigation revealed that Ms. Li had been tricked into installing a screen-sharing application. Critically, two of her bank cards had been linked to online payment platforms under the scammer’s control.
The incident originated when Ms. Li received a call from individuals claiming to be “Douyin customer service,” Douyin being the Chinese version of TikTok. The caller asserted that Ms. Li’s account had been automatically enabled for a live-streaming feature, incurring a monthly charge of 900 yuan (approximately $125 USD) unless canceled.
Authorities emphasize that this type of scam typically involves fraudsters impersonating customer service representatives from various platforms, including short-video apps, delivery services, and e-commerce sites. They use pretexts like “cancellation of fees” or “account irregularities” to lure victims into downloading remote access applications, ultimately allowing them to steal funds.
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