Foreign students lose cash in text fraud

Beijing police revealed on Friday that foreign students in the capital have been swindled via cellphone text messages, the first such cases of their kind to come to light in the city.

Three cases were reported involving foreign students and a total of 30,000 yuan ($4,400) from December to January, Song Jiandong, deputy director of the management of foreigners in the exit-entry administration division of Beijing municipal public security bureau, said.

Beijing had 28,735 foreign college students at the end of last year, "a sharp increase on two years ago," he said.