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August 28, 2009

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12 suspects caught over telephone swindling scams

CITY police have caught 12 gang members who allegedly swindled more that 4.2 million yuan (US$614,700) from people in telephone scams.

The gang leader is from Taiwan and four members are foreigners, Fengxian District police said yesterday.

About 170,000 yuan was recovered and more than 1 million yuan was frozen in bank accounts, police said. Officers also found 89 debit cards.

The gang leader, surnamed Zhan, ordered the men to use telephone tricks to get victims to deposit money to "safe accounts," police said.

Zhan was caught when he entered Shanghai on July 11. The other suspects were caught on July 19, police said.

Police gave an example of how the group worked.

A victim surnamed Ma received a phone call in June saying that he had not paid his phone bill. The caller, claiming he was from the telecoms authorities, asked Ma to transfer money to four accounts.

Police said the gang swindled 350,000 yuan from Ma.

The suspects used similar methods in other provinces.

"In some cases, they even impersonated police officers," said Cao Rong, an officer with Fengxian police.

Some victims were asked to transfer money to save a family member from a fake kidnapping, police said.

The group mostly targeted old people and women, according to police.

In April, Changning District police caught nine people who were involved in similar swindles. The group had cheated people out of more than 5.9 million yuan, police officers said.


 

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