Keep your eyes open during the epidemic, be careful not to be fooled and prevent fraud!
Time:
2020-02-06
Author:
Shi Lu
Source:
Guangxi Tongwang Law Firm
Visits:
33
The Spring Festival in 2020 is destined to be unforgettable. The day that should have been a time for family reunion was helplessly invaded by the virus, and the severe epidemic affected everyone's hearts. While the whole country was fighting the epidemic together, some criminals used the name of the epidemic to defraud money, becoming disharmonious "notes" in the epidemic prevention and control war.
As everyone joked, I didn't expect pork to become a "luxury" in 2019, and I didn't expect masks to become a "scarce commodity" in 2020. Some people even lamented that they didn't expect to participate in the lottery for the first time in their lives not for a license plate or a house, but to "draw lots" to buy masks. The situation of being hard to come by also made some criminals smell the opportunity and began to use people's urgent need for masks to carry out fraud.
On January 30, 2020, Cenxi City, Guangxi, detected a case of using pneumonia epidemic to release false mask advertisements to carry out fraud. According to Cenxi Public Security, during the Spring Festival, the suspect Li Moumou released information on the Internet, claiming that he had a large number of medical masks in stock that could be sold at a low price. The victim believed it to be true, and contacted Li Moumou through WeChat. Subsequently, Li Moumou sent a fake photo of the mask to the victim, falsely claiming that he had a large supply of goods, and induced the victim to pay for the purchase. However, after the victim paid the payment as agreed, Li Moumou immediately blacklisted the victim.
At about 12:00 on January 30, the police from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of the Cenxi City Public Security Bureau and the Chengjian Police Station arrested the suspect Li Moumou who committed the fraud in the jurisdiction. It was initially verified that Li Moumou used the sale of masks to commit 3 frauds, involving an amount of about 3,050 yuan.
In fact, such scams are not new. The situation of using people's attention to hot spots and fear to defraud profits has occurred many times during the Jiuzhaigou earthquake and avian influenza epidemic. Relying on "rubbing hot spots" to commit crimes has always been a "strength" of criminals. The lawyer summarized several types of fraud cases that have occurred recently, hoping to help everyone raise their vigilance.
Forms of fraud using the epidemic
1. Fraud in the name of sales
Criminals falsely collect money from victims in the name of selling epidemic prevention materials such as masks, disinfectants, and scarce medicines, and then take them for themselves. The above case belongs to this type.
2. Fraud in the name of charity donation
Criminals use various methods such as the Internet and communication tools to impersonate charitable organizations and medical institutions to defraud property in the form of raising donations for the new coronavirus, or tamper with the collection account to their own collection account to defraud donations when forwarding real donation information.
【Case】
On the evening of January 27, 2020, the Jieyang public security organs received a report from a person saying that he wanted to donate money to the victims of the new type of pneumonia in Wuhan through the Internet. He searched for the epidemic donation account on the Internet, and then transferred 500 yuan to a public account called "Wuhan Charity Association" through WeChat. Later, he found that the donation flowed into a private account, and the public account was subsequently cancelled. The person suspected that he had been defrauded and reported the case to the public security organs. On January 29, Jieyang police arrested the suspect Cai Mou. Cai Mou initially confessed that he had impersonated the "Wuhan Charity Association" public account to solicit donations for more than 100 frauds, involving an amount of more than 8,000 yuan.
3. Fraud in the name of "refund and change"
In order to prevent the spread of the epidemic and avoid going to crowded places, many people have changed their scheduled travel plans, and many airlines and travel companies have successively introduced relevant measures for "refund and change". Criminals use the peak period of handling "refunds and changes" to induce victims to call the "customer service phone" in the text message by sending text messages for handling refunds and changes compensation procedures, and impersonate customer service personnel to obtain the victim's bank card, password and verification code in the process of guiding the public to handle "refunds and changes" procedures, or send fake links, so that the victim enters the above information in the link, so as to transfer the deposits in the victim's bank card.
Case
On January 20, 2020, the victim Mr. Dong received a text message stating that the flight was cancelled due to the epidemic. Mr. Dong immediately called the phone provided in the text message to go through the formalities. After the call was connected, the criminal impersonated the airline's customer service staff and asked Mr. Dong to provide his bound bank card number, reported the balance in the card, and then sent him a special link for changing the ticket. According to the page prompts, Mr. Dong entered his bank card number, password and mobile phone verification code, and then the balance in the card was completely transferred.
4. Fraud in the name of fines
Criminals impersonate national staff such as public security police to conduct inspections in mahjong parlors, KTVs and other places, and collect fines on the grounds of illegal business during the epidemic, defrauding others of their property.
Case
On January 30, 2020, a criminal impersonated a soldier and wore a military uniform to a teahouse in Guangyuan, Sichuan, claiming to conduct a screening during the epidemic. During this period, the criminal found someone playing mahjong in the teahouse and pretended to be very angry. After criticizing and educating the people present, he made a penalty of 1,000 yuan. Finally, the police station arrested the criminal after receiving a report.
5. Fraud in the name of transporting epidemic prevention materials
Criminals use the opportunity of urgently needing to transport materials recently to carry out telecommunications fraud against truck drivers in the name of transporting epidemic prevention materials.
Case
On January 29, 2020, Maoming police detected a new type of telecommunications fraud case using the transportation of new coronavirus medical materials. Criminals released information on freight platforms such as "Yunmanman" that they urgently needed to transport a batch of protective clothing from Shaoguan, Guangdong to Wuhan. After the truck driver took the initiative to contact them, the criminals asked the driver to pay a deposit on the grounds of preventing the driver from escaping the order, and said that they would return it when the truck arrived at the designated loading location. After receiving the deposit, the criminals immediately blacklisted the driver.
6. Fraud in the name of collecting tuition fees in advance
Due to the epidemic, schools in various places have postponed the start of school, and criminals have defrauded parents in the name of "collecting tuition fees in advance".
Case
According to reports, recently in a parent group of a school in a township in Jiangdu District, I saw such a message: In order to consolidate the learning in the next semester, it is now necessary to pay the fees for the next semester in advance. This payment includes class fees, school uniforms, exercise books, mock test papers and other fees, totaling 973 yuan, and a collection QR code was sent. In the group, the parent found that the QQ number sending the message was the QQ avatar and name of the head teacher. Without much consideration, he immediately scanned the code to pay the fee, and then realized that he had been deceived.
Criminal responsibility for fraud using the epidemic
The above-mentioned acts of defrauding a relatively large amount of public and private property by fabricating facts or concealing the truth for the purpose of illegal possession may constitute the crime of fraud.
According to Article 266 of the "Criminal Law", whoever defrauds public or private property, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also be fined or be sentenced to a fine; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and shall also be fined; if the amount is particularly huge or there are other particularly serious circumstances, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have his property confiscated.
According to Article 1 of the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Fraud" (hereinafter referred to as the "Interpretation"), if the value of defrauded public or private property is more than 3,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan, more than 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan, or more than 500,000 yuan, it shall be respectively identified as "relatively large amount", "huge amount", and "particularly huge amount" as stipulated in Article 266 of the Criminal Law. Therefore, according to the filing standards of different regions, if the fraud of 3,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan reaches the local standard of "relatively large amount", criminal responsibility will be investigated.
Moreover, according to the "Interpretation", if one of the following circumstances exists, a heavier punishment may be imposed at the discretion of the court in accordance with the provisions of Article 266 of the Criminal Law: (1) Committing fraud against an unspecified number of people by sending text messages, making phone calls, or using the Internet, radio, television, newspapers, or magazines to publish false information; (2) Defrauding disaster relief, emergency rescue, flood prevention, preferential treatment, poverty alleviation, immigration, relief, or medical funds and materials; (3) Committing fraud in the name of disaster relief fundraising; (4) Defrauding the property of disabled people, the elderly, or people who have lost their ability to work; (5) Causing the victim to commit suicide, suffer mental disorder, or other serious consequences.
Even if the amount of fraud committed by illegal elements does not reach the provisions of the criminal law, they may still be subject to administrative penalties. According to Article 49 of the "Law on Penalties for Administration of Public Security", whoever steals, defrauds, grabs, snatches, extorts or intentionally damages public or private property shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than ten days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be detained for not less than ten days but not more than fifteen days, and may also be fined not more than 1,000 yuan.
Recently, public security organs across the country have investigated and dealt with a number of fraud cases that have made a fortune out of the national crisis due to the epidemic, and have taken strict and rapid administrative and criminal detention measures. People who have ulterior motives and want to take the opportunity to "make a fortune" in the face of national crisis should stop in time and not go astray because of temporary greed.
Lawyer reminder
Under the epidemic, the holidays of many students and office workers have been extended, but illegal elements will not have a holiday. We should be more vigilant and not fall into their trap because of fear and panic.
1. Please go to regular pharmacies or websites to purchase medical masks and other epidemic prevention supplies.
2. When purchasing goods on the platform, do not transfer money privately through WeChat, Alipay and other methods.
3. Be cautious when receiving strange text messages, do not click on the links in the text messages at will, and do not reveal bank card passwords and verification codes. Refuse all requests for transfers.
4. If you receive a call or text message for "refund or change of ticket", be sure to call the airline's official phone number to verify the situation, and do not call the phone number in the text message.
5. If you encounter a national staff member such as a public security police officer who claims to be required to check, you can ask to show the certificate for verification. If you are required to pay the fine directly to the other party, refuse it.
6. When donating money, pay attention to verifying the identity of individuals and institutions that publish donation information on the Internet to avoid being deceived.
7. The education department has officially notified that there will be no form of advance fees before the official start of school, and notices of advance collection of tuition fees will be ignored.
We must raise our awareness of self-prevention, rationally take protective measures, and be careful not to be deceived. If you have any clues about illegal crimes, please call "110" directly to report to the police.