Chinese Embassy Robocall Scam Rakes in $40M From Victims

If you ended up hearing a Chinese-language robocall last year, you weren't alone. The scam made headlines for bombarding residents across the US with claims they had urgent business with a Chinese government embassy.

Most people probably hung up, not understanding a word that was being said. Unfortunately, the calls still made a fortune for the fraudsters behind it. On Thursday, the FBI revealed it had received more than 350 complaints from actual victims of the scam, with the combined losses reaching over $40 million.

The average loss per victim was over $164,000, the FBI said in public service announcement about the "Chinese Embassy scam."

So why has the scam been so effective? Although the calls were widespread across the US, they were designed to prey on the Chinese immigrant population. According to the FBI, many of the victims reported themselves as students or visiting university faculty from the country.

The scam works by impersonating the Chinese government, which has jailed Chinese citizens, such as artists, journalists and lawyers, for opposing the country's policies. People who pick up the robocalls will be told in Mandarin that they have an important package to pick up at the consulate. The call will then direct the victim to a live agent, who will tell them they may be in legal trouble.

"The person on the phone claims the victim's passport, social security card, or credit card was found to be in the package or on the suspicious person. Victims are then told they are under investigation and, in order to assist Chinese law enforcement, they must speak to an investigator," the FBI said.

Another version of the scam will pretend to be a Chinese credit card company, claiming the victim has an overdue balance. "Victims are then transferred to 'investigators,' who advise victims they must wire funds to accounts located almost exclusively in China or Hong Kong to resolve the situation," the FBI added. "If the victims do not cooperate, they are threatened with deportation, loss of assets, and/or jail."

To lend even more credibility to the whole scam, the culprits will use phone spoofing to make the calls look like they came from an actual Chinese embassy. The FBI has also received reports of the fraudsters contacting victims via text messages and chat applications. In some cases, the scammers will even supply documents containing the victims' pictures, passport numbers, social security cards or financial data.

Recommended by Our Editors

FTC Bans 4 Companies for Making Billions of Robocalls

John Oliver Tackles Robocalls by Flooding FCC With Spam Calls

FCC to Carriers: Adopt Anti-Robocall System by 2019 or Else

The scheme has so far ensnared unsuspecting victims across 27 states, the FBI said. 35 percent of the reported victims were based in California and New York. Who the fraudsters are isn't known, but their proficency in Mandarin suggests they operate out of mainland China.

The Chinese consulate in New York warned about the scam as early as August 2017. Nevertheless, the FBI says it's been receiving reports about the fraudulent calls up to this year in January.

The US Federal Trade Commission has tips on how Chinese-speakers can protect themselves from the scam. "If you have business with the real Chinese Consulate and you're worried, contact the real Chinese Consulate by looking up your local office's number. But, whatever you do, don't give out your information —or your money— to anyone who contacts you out of the blue," the commission says.

Symantec Norton Security