A university student in Northern Ireland has fallen foul to a £200,000 scam by two men who posed as Chinese police officers and threatened her with arrest if she did not pay up. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has condemned the fraud and noted that it had targeted other students last year. The victim had received an initial call alleging that she was involved with money laundering. The two men then contacted her online dressed as fake “Beijing police officers”. The PSNI has highlighted that the fraudsters had gone to great lengths to appear authentic.
The PSNI has advised the public to follow five basic rules to remain aware of such scams: always hang up the phone; delete all texts requesting payment or bank account details; never call back the number; never click on links in texts that seem suspicious; and never transfer money to an account. The PSNI has received two similar reports from similar crimes that occurred last year. On those occasions, scammers had targeted Chinese students living and studying in Belfast, who lost £105,000 in total.
“This is a really despicable, calculated crime,” said Det Supt Richard Thornton. “These fraudsters contacted the student online, and even went as far as dressing in uniforms claiming to be officers from ‘Beijing Police'”. After returning the money, the student has not heard from the men again.
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