FBI: How fake Xi cops prey on Chinese nationals in the US
(2023/04/13)
- Reference: 1681341969
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/04/12/crooks_prey_us_chinese/
- Source link:
Criminals posing as law enforcement agents of the Chinese government are shaking down Chinese nationals living the United States by accusing them of financial crimes and threatening to arrest or hurt them if they don't pay, according to the FBI.
The miscreants involved in this financial fraud contact victims by spoofed phone or email messages, the bureau said in an [1]advisory this week. Popular fake identities for the crooks include agents at the People's Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Public Security or US-based Chinese consulates.
"Criminals may show victims fraudulent documents as proof of these accusations, including realistic-looking arrest warrants or intricate details about alleged criminal schemes," the FBI wrote in the advisory. "Criminals may also display basic knowledge of the victim to appear more legitimate."
[2]
The fraudsters appear to be riding the publicity surrounding Operation Fox Hunt, a program by the Chinese Communist Party to hunt down citizens living abroad and return them to the country. The Middle Kingdom claims that ongoing campaign is a crackdown on corrupt wealthy citizens living in the US, Canada, Europe, and beyond.
[3]
[4]
As part of that program, Beijing accuses Chinese citizens of committing financial crimes back home and fleeing the country with large amounts of money. It then leans on foreign governments and international law enforcement – such as Interpol – to issue warrants for their arrests.
But it's darker than that. According to the FBI and other agencies around the world, Chinese officials also will pressure and threaten their targets' relatives to convince them to return to China, send threatening letters, sue them in US courts, and send covert teams to stalk and harass them.
[5]
FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that Operation Fox Hunt is China's way to target Chinese citizens living in the US and elsewhere that government officials determine are political and financial threats to President Xi's regime. In announcing [6]arrests in the US in 2020 connected to Operation Fox Hunt, Wray [7]outlined some of the methods used by the Chinese operatives.
"When it couldn't locate a Fox Hunt target, the Chinese government sent an emissary to visit the victim's family here in the United States," he said during a press conference. "And the message they said to pass on? The target had two options: Return to China promptly or commit suicide."
If they refuse to return to China, "their family members, both here in the United States and in China, have been threatened and coerced, and those back in China have even been arrested for leverage. These are not the actions we would expect from a responsible nation state. Instead, it's more like something we'd expect from an organized criminal syndicate."
[8]FBI and international cops catch a NetWire RAT
[9]Feds seize $112m in cryptocurrency linked to 'pig-butchering' finance scams
[10]Ukrainian cops nab suspects accused of stealing $4.3m from victims across Europe
[11]UK refreshes national security plan to stop more of China's secret-stealing cyber-tricks
In a speech in January 2022, Wray [12]said Chinese operatives also have blackmailed and kidnapped Chinese nationals and have offered bounties to criminal organizations in the US to get citizens back home. The FBI director said the Chinese government has brought back more than 9,000 people worldwide.
The FBI has charged various suspects in connection with Operation Fox Hunt, including in 2020 when eight people were indicted for conspiring to act as agents of the PRC and two years later when seven were [13]indicted on similar charges.
[14]
The agency isn't explicitly saying the crooks targeting Chinese nationals in the US are part of Operation Fox Hunt, but that they "exploit widely publicized efforts by the People's Republic of China government to harass and facilitate repatriation of individuals living in the United States to build plausibility for their fraud."
The FBI advised people to not release personal identifying information or send money if contacted by unknown people accusing them of a crime and to contact the FBI if they are contacted by people claiming to be law enforcement from China. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230410
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/eight-individuals-charged-conspiring-act-illegal-agents-people-s-republic-china
[7] https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-director-christopher-wrays-remarks-at-press-conference-regarding-chinas-operation-fox-hunt
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/10/fbi_netwire_seizure/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/04/fbi_pig_butchering_cryptocurrency/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/01/ukrainian_cops_arrest/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/14/uk_integrated_review_refresh/
[12] https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/countering-threats-posed-by-the-chinese-government-inside-the-us-wray-013122
[13] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-and-13-charged-three-separate-cases-alleged-participation-malign-schemes-united
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The miscreants involved in this financial fraud contact victims by spoofed phone or email messages, the bureau said in an [1]advisory this week. Popular fake identities for the crooks include agents at the People's Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Public Security or US-based Chinese consulates.
"Criminals may show victims fraudulent documents as proof of these accusations, including realistic-looking arrest warrants or intricate details about alleged criminal schemes," the FBI wrote in the advisory. "Criminals may also display basic knowledge of the victim to appear more legitimate."
[2]
The fraudsters appear to be riding the publicity surrounding Operation Fox Hunt, a program by the Chinese Communist Party to hunt down citizens living abroad and return them to the country. The Middle Kingdom claims that ongoing campaign is a crackdown on corrupt wealthy citizens living in the US, Canada, Europe, and beyond.
[3]
[4]
As part of that program, Beijing accuses Chinese citizens of committing financial crimes back home and fleeing the country with large amounts of money. It then leans on foreign governments and international law enforcement – such as Interpol – to issue warrants for their arrests.
But it's darker than that. According to the FBI and other agencies around the world, Chinese officials also will pressure and threaten their targets' relatives to convince them to return to China, send threatening letters, sue them in US courts, and send covert teams to stalk and harass them.
[5]
FBI Director Christopher Wray has said that Operation Fox Hunt is China's way to target Chinese citizens living in the US and elsewhere that government officials determine are political and financial threats to President Xi's regime. In announcing [6]arrests in the US in 2020 connected to Operation Fox Hunt, Wray [7]outlined some of the methods used by the Chinese operatives.
"When it couldn't locate a Fox Hunt target, the Chinese government sent an emissary to visit the victim's family here in the United States," he said during a press conference. "And the message they said to pass on? The target had two options: Return to China promptly or commit suicide."
If they refuse to return to China, "their family members, both here in the United States and in China, have been threatened and coerced, and those back in China have even been arrested for leverage. These are not the actions we would expect from a responsible nation state. Instead, it's more like something we'd expect from an organized criminal syndicate."
[8]FBI and international cops catch a NetWire RAT
[9]Feds seize $112m in cryptocurrency linked to 'pig-butchering' finance scams
[10]Ukrainian cops nab suspects accused of stealing $4.3m from victims across Europe
[11]UK refreshes national security plan to stop more of China's secret-stealing cyber-tricks
In a speech in January 2022, Wray [12]said Chinese operatives also have blackmailed and kidnapped Chinese nationals and have offered bounties to criminal organizations in the US to get citizens back home. The FBI director said the Chinese government has brought back more than 9,000 people worldwide.
The FBI has charged various suspects in connection with Operation Fox Hunt, including in 2020 when eight people were indicted for conspiring to act as agents of the PRC and two years later when seven were [13]indicted on similar charges.
[14]
The agency isn't explicitly saying the crooks targeting Chinese nationals in the US are part of Operation Fox Hunt, but that they "exploit widely publicized efforts by the People's Republic of China government to harass and facilitate repatriation of individuals living in the United States to build plausibility for their fraud."
The FBI advised people to not release personal identifying information or send money if contacted by unknown people accusing them of a crime and to contact the FBI if they are contacted by people claiming to be law enforcement from China. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2023/PSA230410
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/eight-individuals-charged-conspiring-act-illegal-agents-people-s-republic-china
[7] https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-director-christopher-wrays-remarks-at-press-conference-regarding-chinas-operation-fox-hunt
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/10/fbi_netwire_seizure/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/04/fbi_pig_butchering_cryptocurrency/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/01/ukrainian_cops_arrest/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/14/uk_integrated_review_refresh/
[12] https://www.fbi.gov/news/speeches/countering-threats-posed-by-the-chinese-government-inside-the-us-wray-013122
[13] https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-arrested-and-13-charged-three-separate-cases-alleged-participation-malign-schemes-united
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZDd@ZNezsVQamdKCJ1D6nQAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Any moment now...
Blackjack
[Insert Joke About the Republican Party Here]
Re: Any moment now...
Blazde
Hi,
This is NSA! You must act now for your safety. We have been collecting informations on you for a long time now and we know everything about what you get up to and all your secrets. I think you know what we mean!! You have two options:
Either we extraordinarily rendite you to %BADNATION% where you will be put in a secret basement with Lynndie England and subjected to round the clock techno music. Not good!
Or you will transfer Bitcoin equivalent to 1,000,000 (1 million) US$ to our address 493pygjrsqn0yrf2kkfjhtzq2x0wlh83bc1qxy2kgd and we will give you lifelong immunity from all US government and five eyes nation hassles. Also because we will no longer be monitoring you internet traffic your download speeds will increase.
Your choice, act now!
[I was going to say you know you're running a truly evil outfit when the crims try to impersonate you to scare their marks, then I remembered all the HMRC spam we get...]
Would not surprise me if...
anothercynic
... If those 'miscreants' aren't actual Chinese government agents.
I mean... look at the not-Chinese-police-people trying to pull Chinese protesters into the Manchester consulate during the protests there... and it's happening elsewhere too.
Sorry, dear China-lovers, I'm not a fan of Chinese politics (and its government apparatus medusa). I love the people, but that's where the buck ends.
Any moment now...
...I'm sure the usual suspects that infe[c/s]t these forums will be along to feed us their usual whataboutery and tell us all how the evil US/UK/West does things that are just as bad.
Paging Gandalfcn, VoiceofTroll, and cohorts... you're on... drivel away...