Police warning: If you get this call, hang up
Thousands of people in Australia have been targeted by an international phone scam, police warn.
People in New South Wales have report receiving a call from someone speaking Mandarin, with police warning users, whether they understand it or not, to hang up immediately.
The phone scam, targeting Chinese nationals in Australia, pretends to be someone from the embassy. They demand money over debts or unpaid fines and threaten violence against the target or their family unless payments are made.
More disturbingly, if the target is unable to pay, the scammers instruct them to fake their own kidnapping so their family can be exhorted for money.
“We have offenders contacting victims on the phone purporting to be from the Chinese Embassy, and saying victims either committed an offence or had their identity stolen. As a result, victims are asked to pay fines or a debt,” Financial Crimes Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett told a conference on Wednesday afternoon.
“I want to stress that the Chinese Embassy would never contact a victim to pay money over the phone.
“We’ve had incidents where the victim is threatened, or their family back in China is threatened.”
The scam has already reaped millions of dollars, targeting victims across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
According to Det Supt Howlett, there have been at least 50 reports of this incident across NSW, with three calls this week alone. One victim in NSW had $1.9 million stolen and there have been three forced fake kidnappings in the past week.
Howlett urged people receiving the calls to hang up and let authorities know.