Thousands of people in Australia have been targeted by a malicious international phone scam, police say.
People across New South Wales have reported receiving a call from someone speaking in Mandarin, demanding money under the threat of violence. Dozens have fallen victim to the calls.
The phone call, which may come through the messaging app WeChat, mentions debts or unpaid fines.
The target is transferred to a person who claims to be an official from the Chinese consulate or embassy, who makes threats of violence against the target or their family unless payments are made.
If the target is unable to pay, the scammers instruct them to fake their own kidnapping so their family can be extorted into making payments on their behalf.
On Wednesday NSW police said more than $5m had been scammed in NSW alone. One NSW victim paid $1.9m to scammers and there had been three forced fake kidnappings in the past week, said Det Supt Linda Howlett of the financial crime squad.
Victims have been found across Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and the UK, she told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.
So far there have been no arrests in Australia and it is believed the calls are originating from Asia.
Howlett urged people receiving the calls to hang up and stressing that no one from the government would ask for payments over the phone.
China’s deputy consul-general in Sydney, Tong Xuejun, said more than 1,000 cases had been reported since August 2017.
Earlier this month the Chinese consulate reportedly warned that since that date scammers impersonating Chinese diplomats had stolen a total of $10m from victims living in Sydney.
“We have confirmed about 40 cases that caused a loss. The total amount of money involved is about $10m,” Tong was reported to have said.
Last month the former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman warned of a telephone scam that had cost people living in New York $2.5m.
New Yorkers received calls from potential fraudsters impersonating the Chinese consulate to demand payment in exchange for a package or to prevent punishment from the consulate office.
The attorney general’s office warned that consumers had reported receiving calls or messages instructing them to pick up a package, while others received threats urging them to provide information to avoid being in trouble with the Chinese Consulate.
Several were told that if they did not offer up information or pay a fine they would suffer negative consequences, including arrest upon traveling to China.
According to the US Federal Trade Commission the calls came from outside the US and targeted people with Chinese last names, including recent immigrants.
The New York police department said that since December 2017, 21 Chinese immigrants had been victimised and lost a total of $2.5m.
