Slashdot Mirror
Huawei Executive Arrest Inspires Advance Fee Scams (sans.edu)
UnderAttack writes: Scammers are attempting to trick Chinese victims into sending thousands of dollars in order to secure the release of Chinese Huawei executive Meng who was arrested in Canada last week. The messages claim to originate from Ms. Meng and suggest that she found a corrupt guard who will let her go for a few thousand dollars. Of course, there will be riches for anybody who is willing to help (and more). The scam is reportedly targeting people via WeChat, which may have a higher success rate than more widely distributed scams.
One of the messages reads (translated): "Hello, I am MENG Wanzou. Currently, I have been detained by Canadian customs. I have limited use of my phone. Right now CIA is trying to get me into the hands of the US government. I bribed the guard of my room, and urgently need US$2000 to get out of here. Once I am out, I will reward you 200,000 shares of Huawei. I will be good on my word. if you are single, we can also discuss the important thing in life. The guard's name is David, the account number is 52836153836252, swift 55789034. I will be good on my word."
One of the messages reads (translated): "Hello, I am MENG Wanzou. Currently, I have been detained by Canadian customs. I have limited use of my phone. Right now CIA is trying to get me into the hands of the US government. I bribed the guard of my room, and urgently need US$2000 to get out of here. Once I am out, I will reward you 200,000 shares of Huawei. I will be good on my word. if you are single, we can also discuss the important thing in life. The guard's name is David, the account number is 52836153836252, swift 55789034. I will be good on my word."
if you are single, we can also discuss the important thing in life.
Oh good lord, if you're dumb enough to fall for that you almost deserve to be scammed.
You believe that a guard in Canada can be bribed, a CEO will jump your bones, and....fuck it, just stop.
You're rich enough to have internet scams. You made it. You're one of the big boys now.
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Why would someone give you 200,000 shares of Huawei for only $2000? That's like $2 million US. I'll take that deal, how do I contact her? Also, don't I need the name of the bank?
If you're dumb enough to fall for that shit you probably deserve to be taken for a ride. It's like the scammers aren't even trying any more.
(Yes, I know they deliberately write these pathetic letters to screen out all but the dumbest marks, but still...shouldn't it be just a little bit believable?)
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
This really is a return to its roots for advance fee scams. A famous 19th century version of the scam was the Spanish prisoner. A wealthy person is imprisoned, needs a little bit of cash to escape, and will reward you afterwards.
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DOPPELGANGER
Can anyone besides me laugh at the sheer irony of this?
China's busy ripping us off, and they're getting scammed.
The peoples of the distant future will be amazed at the problems money and greed caused along with the massive slowdown in advancements these things caused tous as a human race.
Remember when this was a Nigerian prince targeting us? It's not even 10 years later and now the Chinese are already having it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I've got an idea: are you familiar with the 'I'll wire you some money from me A to you B, you wire 90% of it to another account C and keep the rest' scam? (The scam is that there's a charge back made to your account later, leaving you B with -10% and C with +10%)
What if someone hooks this fake Meng up with those guys?
TFA only mentions one scam, and one message.
Slashdot is inflating the issue to some nebulous number of scams and messages, making a mountain out of a molehill.
Bad reporting, as always.
Guards can't be bought for $2k - even CAD.
OTOH, if they can be bought for $1K in China, that is good to know.
Nobody would give up a $50-$100K guard job for $2K.
Definitely a stupid tax, just like people who buy lottery tickets.
When she gets out and shows up at my door and I'm getting laid, we'll see who laughs last.
I'm still amazed people fall for this shit. Even my mom, the most Tech helpless person there is, laughs at these scam attempts. Shit she even trolled a "Nigerian prince" once. funny as hell.
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Can you write in all upper case in Chinese?