A man in China recently received a screenshot supposedly showing an indecent video, along with threats that the photos and videos would be published online. In a panic, he followed instructions and transferred 150,000 yuan (about 87,000 ringgit), only to later remember that he had never made such recordings, realizing he had been scammed.
According to Chinese media outlet "Litchi News," Mr. Li from Jiangsu recently received calls and multimedia messages from strangers, which included a screenshot apparently from an indecent video. The sender claimed to be a "private investigator" allegedly hired to monitor Mr. Li's whereabouts, and threatened to make the images and videos public online unless contacted.
In a moment of panic, Mr. Li followed instructions and transferred 150,000 yuan. However, since the sender never provided the full video and Mr. Li realized he had never made any such recordings, he suddenly figured out it was a scam and reported the case to the police.
After receiving the report, the police immediately launched an investigation, successfully froze the scammer's bank account, promptly recovered the transferred funds, and managed to prevent further financial loss for Mr. Li.
During the investigation, police identified two suspects, both of whom were unemployed and survived mainly by doing odd jobs.
Further police investigation revealed that the two suspects had come across so-called "high-paying SMS side job" recruitment ads online and decided to take part. They provided their SIM cards at designated locations and, following instructions, sent out large numbers of multimedia messages containing indecent screenshots to specific targets to incite panic and attempt extortion.
According to the suspects' statements, they were paid 4 yuan (about 2 ringgit 35 sen) for each multimedia message sent. In a short period, the pair sent over 18,000 messages and illegally earned up to 70,000 yuan (about 40,000 ringgit).
The case went to court, which found that the two had fabricated false situations to unlawfully obtain property. The amount involved reached the threshold for a "large sum." In accordance with the Criminal Law, their actions constituted the crime of extortion. Ultimately, the court sentenced both defendants to 1 year and 6 months in prison and imposed fines.
Police are still tracing the mastermind behind the operation, and preliminary assessments suggest that Zeng and Shao are likely just low-level operatives in a larger scamming network.