[Editor's Note: In some cases, names may have been changed.]

Narrator: The FBI is warning the public about a financial fraud scheme involving scammers who impersonate Chinese law enforcement and target the U.S.-based Chinese community—in particular, Chinese students attending American universities.

These criminals scare their victims into sending them large sums of money. They demand the students pay up—or else they'll be arrested or even violently attacked.

On this episode, we'll break down these scams, identify red flags to be aware of, and discuss how the FBI is working to support visiting students from criminal actors. We'll also cover what to do if you think you or a classmate is being scammed.

This is Inside the FBI.

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Peter: So right now, we've been investigating criminal actors who are posing as Chinese law enforcement officials, and they are contacting Chinese students who are studying at universities in the United States. They're pretending to be Chinese law enforcement and telling the students that there is a warrant for their arrest for some sort of, you know, international crime like money laundering.

Narrator: That was Peter, an FBI intelligence analyst who's working with special agents out of the FBI Philadelphia office to put a stop to these crimes.

Peter: And they're getting the students to send money overseas as bail money, essentially. But the students are being extorted out of, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of dollars because they think they are wanted by Chinese law enforcement.

Narrator: This is a widespread problem that's not limited to any one city or region. Students across the United States are being targeted. And it's leaving them financially drained and psychologically traumatized.

We know that the scammers are based in China, and they are financially motivated. They've been linked to groups that commit elder fraud and cyberkidnapping—crimes that have also been lucrative for them.
By targeting Chinese students living in the United States, they can take advantage of the vulnerabilities associated with studying abroad—such as language barriers and distance from support networks back home—that can make life challenging or even isolating for some students.

Peter: So, they just play into the fear that that comes from just being isolated from their family and from their home country.

Narrator: In addition, criminals may assume international students who pay their tuition upfront are especially affluent. Those are some baseline assumptions when the scammers are choosing their targets.

Peter explains what happens next as the scam unfolds:

Peter: So, the first phase is the student will get contacted by a representative or an alleged representative of, like, a U.S. retailer or it might be a telephone company. And they tell them that there's been a problem with their account and that they're going to be transferred to law enforcement.

The next step is the student/the victim gets transferred on the phone to somebody who claims to be a member of the Chinese govern—, Chinese law enforcement. And the numbers are always spoofed so that the victims are told, you know, you can look up this number, and it's going to resolve to a law enforcement agency in China because the numbers were spoofed.

So it does appear, if they look up that number online, that they are being contacted by Chinese law enforcement. They are told that their information—their private, personal information—has been associated with, usually, a large-scale criminal enterprise, like a money laundering ring, and that there's a warrant out for their arrest.

Typically, the students are then told to get on, like, an audio and a video call, and they are monitored over basically 24/7. Some victims are told to check in every couple of hours over this video with the perpetrators of the scam, as well. And they're told there's a warrant out for their arrest, and if they don't comply, when they get back to China, they're going to be arrested or their family members are going to be arrested.

Narrator: To an American, getting a call like this out of the blue may seem far-fetched. But to those familiar with the Chinese government, which is known to use similar tactics, it could feel very real.

By pretending to be Chinese law enforcement, these scammers are engaging in transnational repression, or TNR, which is when a foreign government attempts to intimidate, silence, coerce, harass, or harm its citizens living outside of its own borders. When TNR occurs within the United States, it threatens U.S. sovereignty, violates U.S. law, and infringes on individuals' rights and freedoms. The FBI uses its jurisdiction to help combat these incidents.

FBI Philadelphia Supervisory Special Agent Will explains:

Will: We know that, as Americans, that's not how law enforcement conducts themselves. However, those are the exact tactics that the PRC government does use against its citizens. So, at the threat of those activities is what is usually getting the cooperation of our victims, unfortunately.
Narrator: And then there's the final phase of the scam.

Peter: They are told to wire money to an overseas account, usually always in China or in Hong Kong. And they're told the money is for a bail or a warrant, or to pay, you know, the judge in the case.

Narrator: Once the money is sent overseas, it cannot be recovered.

Part of what makes these scammers successful is how good they are at masking their true identities. In some cases, victims are put on a video call with the scammer, who will go to great lengths to physically appear as Chinese law enforcement. They may be dressed in a uniform and display credentials or a badge. They may also have documentation that looks like a warrant and includes the victim's photo, personal identifying information, and sometimes even information about their family members overseas.

The production quality helps make all of these things more believable.

Will: We're looking at things that can only be described as sound stages to look like courtrooms and judges and stenographers sitting there and law enforcement talking about warrants just to further drive through to these individuals the legitimacy of the law enforcement function.

Narrator: In addition to the financial stress, the psychological stress takes a heavy toll on these victims.

Will: Look at the level of stress it's imposed on these students. Right. So, we're talking early 20s, potentially as a maximum age of these students. And they're, first of all, being told that they are involved in some kind of fraud already. So, they're already linked to a crime in China. The embarrassment to their family, to themselves, is on their mind.

Narrator: FBI Philadelphia Special Agent James elaborates:

James: We've seen a large amount of mental trauma that can be associated with the victims of the cyber kidnapping piece because they're being isolated from their friends and family. They're no longer going to classes. They have maybe relocated to a hotel or an Airbnb at the direction of the scammers to be in a situation where, basically, their only lifeline is these scammers overseas and providing money.

Will: All those things pile on each other, and it ends up at a significant detriment to their mental well-being.

Narrator: Sometimes to the extent where students are at risk of taking their own lives.

James: And so, if you think that you have information to provide, or a friend of yours on campus has been targeted, or you're aware of, you know, an uptick in these types of scams in your area, it's important to share that information, report it, because you could be contributing to potentially saving someone's life.

I mean, we've definitely found individuals who've been targeted through this scam. They've lost—it doesn't really matter how much money they have lost—but they've lost more than money. And when these scammers end the call, and they hang up—and these students are left to their own devices, and they're out of money, and they haven't gone to class in weeks, and they haven't seen their friends in weeks—there's a lot of room for us to support them through that.

And so, I think everyone has a responsibility and an opportunity to help on this case and to be our eyes and ears out there. And if you have something, if you see something, say something.

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Narrator: James explains how the FBI and its partners go about investigating these crimes and reach out to students who have been targeted.

James: And a lot of the times that we typically, through our investigation, will come across, you know, one victim at a specific university, it's more likely than not that there are other victims at that same university. And so, in working with our partners at the campus police departments or the global studies program on campus, we're able to conduct more targeted outreach and get in front of additional victims we probably would have missed if not for those efforts. And so, that's a piece of it, as well.

We really do rely on these front-line defenders—our tip wires out there, whether it's a local, professors, you know, friends on campus. If people hear about this, we really need their help to find more, additional victims that need our resources and our assistance. And we ask them to report whatever they can to their local law enforcement contacts or to the FBI.

Will: And those contacts are then linking these cases across areas of responsibility for the FBI—because what looks like just a cyberscam that a student fell for one time now becomes a network of fraudsters and a network of victims and interlocked cases that we're looking at.

We can start to find more and more victims, and the FBI's unparalleled ability to react to victims' needs nationally and internationally—to check on their well-being, to let them know that they're being victimized, that this is not legitimate—gives us all the power we need as an agency to begin to help the victims and thwart the criminal activity.

Narrator: To help get ahead of threat, the FBI collaborates and partners with local law enforcement, the universities, and the private sector, including banks.

James: I would say that it's incredible opportunity for the Bureau to work together with all of our different partners at every level of state, local, federal government to combat this and to also show the victims that we're committed to seeing these individuals that are doing this overseas come to justice.

Narrator: Education and awareness also play a role in combatting the scams and helping potential victims or those at risk.

Peter: So, one of our primary efforts, in addition to interviewing students and trying to follow the financial transactions, has been to get in front of the threat by educating potential victims, potential future victims.

So, obviously, every semester there's a new bout of students coming out from China into different universities across the United States. So, it's been very important to us. We want to try and get in front of them before they become potential victims.

James: It's given us an opportunity to work with our academic partners, to even work on getting some resources in the pamphlets of international students when they come over to university from overseas for their orientation. To, right off the bat, explain to them—with the campus university police department there in the room—what the resources are that are available to them. To not feel guilty or embarrassed that they have been targeted. Because, again, there's a level of sophistication here with the targeting that goes beyond your normal scam.

In addition, with the cultural sensitivities associated with the way the scammers are approaching these victims, we want to make sure that they feel comfortable to report the activity to us and to know what's available to them once they do because we rely on every interview and every report to find additional victims, to strengthen our outreach efforts, and to ultimately pour resources back into that victim who's been targeted.

Narrator: The FBI recommends the following tips to help protect yourself:

If an unknown individual contacts you to accuse you of a crime, do not release any personal or financial information, do not send any money, and do not continue to communicate with this person.
Remember that scammers may use technology to disguise, or spoof, the actual number they are calling from to appear as a trusted contact.
If you believe you have been contacted by an individual or group claiming to be a Chinese authority, contact your local FBI office. You can find your local office at fbi.gov. Foreign government officials conducting legitimate law enforcement activity in the United States must act in coordination with U.S. federal authorities.
Finally, if you’ve experienced or witnessed any fraudulent or suspicious activities, please report them to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov as soon as you can. Be sure to include as much transaction information as possible, such as wire instructions, wallet addresses, telephone numbers, and text or email communications.
Will: These fraudsters, they're equal opportunity thieves. These are the same people who are going after the grandparent scams. These are the same people who are looking at fake kidnappings and insurance fraud.

So, even though you may not have an affinity towards Chinese students, their well-being, or you think that that doesn't affect the U.S. population because it's a foreign national that's being targeted here, every dollar they get from one of these scams to these unfortunate students is also funding some other fraud someplace else. And those frauds are linked to money laundering. They're linked to drug activities. They're linked to identity thefts. It's all interconnected.

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Narrator: This has been another production of Inside the FBI. You can follow us on your favorite podcast player, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.

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On behalf of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs, thanks for listening.

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