The Chinese community in San Francisco is being warned against identity theft scams in the wake of multiple reports received by police this past month regarding scammers posing as health care providers, federal employees and police officers claiming to be from China.
According to police, victims generally reported receiving a phone call from a number, which appeared to be from a health care provider. The callers claimed to be from the provider’s insurance claim department, asking the victims if they had undergone a surgical procedure in China recently, the San Francisco Police Department said in an advisory.
“When the victims replied that they did not receive any surgical treatment in China, the scammers then told the victims that someone had submitted their personal information like birth date, ID number, address and more, to submit a fraudulent claim. The suspects then transferred the calls to other suspects, who claimed to be police officers from a city in China. The suspects claimed they wanted to file police reports for the victims’ compromised personal information,” the San Francisco Police Department said.
Other victims said that they talked with the scammers on video. The callers were reportedly dressed in Chinese police officers’ uniforms with a background resembling a police station in China. The victims were then told to download communications applications like Signal or Skype for texts, voice calls and video calls.
Police said that on one occasion, a scammer posed as a police officer from a Chinese city and sent victims a photo of a Chinese police identification card purporting to be from the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department and spoke Mandarin with the victims during a video call.
“In another incident, a suspect posed as a Mandarin-speaking Federal Communications Commission (FCC) employee. The suspect then connected the victim to several suspects posing as different Chinese police officers in multiple Chinese cities to convince the victim to send $23,000 to clear the victim’s name from the crime. The victim subsequently sent money through wire transfer but later became suspicious and contacted SFPD,” according to the San Francisco Police Department.
If it seems suspicious, hang up
Chinese community members are being urged to protect their personal information, including name, date of birth, Social Security number, passport number, bank account and credit card numbers, and other sensitive personal information. Community members are advised to hang up and end a voice or video call immediately if the call is suspicious.
“We want to spread the word to our Chinese community about these horrendous scammers attempting to take advantage of our community members,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said. “The SFPD is working diligently to identify the perpetrators and bring justice to victims. I want to thank the victims for coming forward and alerting police about these incidents. Please be wary of any person asking for money or personal information who you do not know and contact SFPD if you are suspicious of any activity like this.”
“We want to spread the word to our Chinese community about these horrendous scammers attempting to take advantage of our community members.” Police Chief Bill Scott
Anyone from the Chinese community who has encountered a similar call is advised to call 911 or (415) 553-0123 to contact the San Francisco Police Department and use a preferred language of service, such as Cantonese, Mandarin, or Toisanese.
Cantonese speakers can leave tips on a special tip line at (415) 553-9212 or 1-855-737-3847 Information can also be anonymously provided at (415) 575-4444, or texting a message to TIP411 and beginning the message with “SFPD”.