Easy money and light sentences

Xu, a suspected telecom fraudster from Taiwan who police will only refer to by his surname, was repatriated to the Chinese mainland from Kenya in April.

My boss - "Rich Fat Man", as everyone calls him - contacted me in July 2014.He offered me a leading role in his gang after learning that I had been in prison in Taiwan for fraud.

He paid me NT$100,000($3,100) upfront and flew me to Kenya where I pretended to be "the top police officer of the criminal investigation division for financial cases", a role that is always played by someone from Taiwan.

In addition to the basic wage, I got a bonus of 8 percent of the profits each month. In my three months in Kenya I earned 200,000 yuan. We usually ripped off one or two people every day.

An operator used computer software to automatically make phone calls and then played a recording when the phone was answered.

We were divided into three groups. The lowest group read scripts to people who pressed "9" for more information. They told them the police were investigating because their bank accounts had been involved in money laundering. After the first group hung up, someone from the second group would call the victim and urge them to do all they could to assist the police with the investigation.

If we struck lucrative prey, someone from the top group would call the victim and trick them into transferring money to our bank accounts.

I got back into fraud in 2014, four years after leaving jail. It's easy money and the sentences are light if you get caught. Gang members know that even the master minds will not be given heavy sentences. That's why so many people in Taiwan are getting involved in this stuff.

Xu spoke with Zhang Yi.

Six common scams

"Congratulations! You have just won 100,000 yuan ($15,000) in our online lottery. All you need to do is to call us and claim it!"

"Your son was taken to the hospital after being hit by a car after school. Please transfer 200,000 yuan to the hospital's bank account as follows."

"This is your landlord. Please transfer payment to my new bank account. This is my new phone number."

"Your flight has been delayed because of unstable weather at the destination. Please contact us to reschedule your flight."

"We have just received an error report from your computer server. Your online purchase has failed. Please contact us to complete the deal."

"Our banking system will be updated from 8 am to 10 pm tomorrow. If you need to log onto our system, please use the following link."

Xu spokewith Zhang Yi

(China Daily 06/15/2016 page5)