Don't be fooled! This is a scam to take your money!

[2] Compiled from: Shandong High Court
 
Case review
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in China, Zhou applied to study for a master's degree at a Japanese university with excellent results. During his time abroad, Zhou developed a gambling habit, which gradually led him into financial difficulties. By chance, Zhou learned that visa agency services were very popular, so he thought of seizing this 'business opportunity' to earn some extra money. Zhou created a virtual identity named 'Li Siyu' online and fabricated his work experience at 'Certain Private Immigration Co., Ltd.' and 'Certain International Co., Ltd.' Using this false information, Zhou posted fake advertisements for handling tourist and labor visas in WeChat groups and Moments, thereby starting to commit fraud.

 

In April 2019, Liang sought out Zhou, who used the alias Li Siyu. Under Zhou's professional deceit, Liang transferred a total of 81,600 yuan to Zhou via WeChat and Alipay. Once the money arrived, Zhou immediately blocked Liang. After experiencing success, Zhou continued to defraud others using the same method. In July 2019, Zhou, under the pretense of handling overseas work visas, defrauded Guo of 26,000 yuan. From September to October 2019, Zhou, again claiming to handle overseas work visas, defrauded Han of 20,000 yuan and Ma of 27,300 yuan. The total amount obtained from these frauds, 154,900 yuan, was entirely used by Zhou for gambling and personal expenses. After realizing they had been defrauded, Guo reported the case to the public security authorities. In December 2019, Zhou was arrested by the police. Following the crime, Zhou's family repaid all the victims' economic losses on his behalf and secured the forgiveness of each victim. During the trial, the defendant Zhou did not dispute the facts of the charges, the charges themselves, or the sentencing recommendations.
 
 
[1] Relevant laws and regulations
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 266: Crime of Fraud
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, or shall only, be fined; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, 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 especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated. Where this Law otherwise provides, such provisions shall prevail.
 
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
Article 5
Attempted fraud, where the fraud targets property of a substantial amount, or involves other serious circumstances, shall be subject to criminal conviction and punishment. Using telecommunications methods such as sending text messages, making phone calls, or the Internet to defraud an unspecified large number of people, where the amount defrauded is difficult to verify, but meets any of the following conditions, shall be recognized as the 'other serious circumstances' stipulated in Article 266 of the Criminal Law and shall be convicted and punished for attempted fraud: (1) Sending more than 5,000 fraudulent messages; (2) Making fraudulent phone calls to more than 500 people; (3) Using extremely malicious fraud methods that cause serious harm. If the acts specified in the preceding paragraph reach more than ten times the quantities specified in items (1) or (2) of the preceding paragraph, or involve particularly malicious fraud methods causing particularly serious harm, they shall be recognized as the 'other particularly serious circumstances' stipulated in Article 266 of the Criminal Law and shall be convicted and punished for attempted fraud.

 

 
[1] Court Opinion
The court, upon trial, held that the defendant Zhou, with the intent of illegal possession, repeatedly defrauded others of significant amounts through the use of telecommunications network technology, employing deceptive means to obtain others' property. His actions constituted the crime of fraud and should be subject to punishment. In view of the fact that Zhou truthfully confessed to the criminal facts after appearing in court, voluntarily pleaded guilty, compensated the victims for economic losses, and obtained their forgiveness, the court ultimately sentenced the defendant Zhou in court to three years and six months of imprisonment for the crime of fraud, and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan. The defendant Zhou pleaded guilty in court, accepted the judgment, and did not appeal. At present, the judgment in this case has come into effect.

 

 
[1] The author's perspective
First, Zhou committed fraud through telecommunications means such as telephone and the Internet, inducing the victim to make payments or transfers to criminals, and his actions in themselves already constitute the crime of fraud. Second, because Zhou used advanced Internet technology and the amount of money defrauded was large and difficult to recover, this constitutes an aggravated circumstance of fraud, also known as telecommunications fraud.
 
Telecommunications fraud is not a separate crime, but a form of fraud. According to Article 5 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," telecommunications fraud is subject to the sentencing provisions for fraud. Moreover, if a telecommunications fraud crime is committed and public or private property is defrauded to reach the prescribed amount, it can be punished more severely at the discretion of the court in accordance with the provisions of Article 266 of the Criminal Law.
 
The author reminds that with the advent of the internet age, technological means are becoming increasingly advanced, and criminals are constantly changing and upgrading their methods of crime, even tailoring professional scams for different groups to lure them into being deceived. Therefore, in daily life, it is essential to strengthen awareness of fraud, not to trust blindly, not to follow others blindly, and not to fall into the traps set by scammers for the sake of seeking convenience or cheap gains.