Following reports of a series of transnational scams, Australian authorities have disclosed that Sydney-based Chinese students are being coerced to take photos and even video themselves blindfolded and tied as part of a well-organized extortion scheme called "virtual kidnapping."
Police revealed that scammers disguised as Chinese authorities had amassed millions of U.S. dollars in ransoms by threatening students into staging their own abductions.
The fraudsters, who usually call in Mandarin and claim they are from the Chinese consulate or police, initially say the victim has been accused of a criminal act in China or that their identity has been stolen before scaring them with potential arrest or deportation unless they pay a certain amount of money, authorities said.
Eight such virtual kidnappings have been divulged so far this year, including one where the conmen got paid a ransom of A$2 million. The victims were made to believe that they or their loved ones would be in great danger, police warned. New South Wales Police added the fake abduction had really increased in frequency throughout the year and was carried out on a massive scale.
In one case last month, a Chinese father was demanded to pay $2 million after he received a video of his tied and bound daughter at an unknown location in Australia. Another Chinese family paid $20,000 after being sent a video of their 22-year-old daughter in a similar situation.
While both the international students were later on located in different hotels in Sydney, they had become the latest victim of the elaborate virtual kidnap-for-ransom scam.
According to reports, eight international students have been victimized in virtual kidnappings this year, with the conmen making $3.2 million in ransom payments. Ransoms usually range between $20,000 and $500,000. In one case, More than 1,000 "Chinese authority" scams were recorded in 2019 by an Australian consumer monitoring group.
Assistant Commissioner Peter Thurtell of the New South Wales Police disclosed that Chinese authorities had assured Australian authorities that – under no circumstances –would a government agency communicate with a student overseas to demand money.
The scam has become very common as China-Australia diplomatic ties continue to worsen over issues including Australian calls for an independent probe into the origins of and international handling of the ongoing global health crisis.
Proponents of international students in Australia said that they have been more in jeopardy in the wake of the pandemic because of their dependence on casual work, and their exclusion from federal welfare.
