A Chinese international student in Australia targeted in an elaborate kidnapping scam has spoken out.
It comes two weeks after the they had identified at least 25 cases of students being scammed.
Sarah (not her real name) told ABC News she revealed personal details to scammers when they called her posing as Chinese government officials.
"Someone just called me up and they pretended to be the Chinese embassy and they were trying to say I was involved in a case in China," the Victoria-based student said.
The 21-year-old said she spoke to four different people over the phone for three hours as they extracted personal information from her.
"I put trust on them, and all of a sudden it was a scam. I feel so stupid and at the same time it was so scary as well."
Sarah’s mother was alerted by official authorities in China of the scam and contacted Sarah before any money was fleeced.
Earlier this month, the AFP issued a public warning about the scam which has already fleeced victims and their families of $2 million.
The “virtual kidnapping” scheme involves the perpetrators falsely telling the students they have been implicated in a serious crime back home in China.
Their parents in China are then told that their child has been kidnapped and they must pay a large ransom.
In some cases, victims are tricked into cutting off contact with their families and filming fake hostage videos, which are then sent to their relatives.
“We’ve seen a similar style of scams, as unattractive as they are, over a long period of time in other countries,” Commander David McLean from the AFP’s Cyber Crime Operations told SBS News earlier this month.
“We’re working with law enforcement partners. In this particular case, we are talking with INTERPOL and the Minister of Public Security in China.”
Dr Lennon Chang, a lecturer in Criminology at Monash University, said the scams are part of long-running organised crime syndicates in China and Taiwan.
“What is innovative in the recent scam compared with the earlier ones is that they have chosen to target international students from China and Taiwan who are away from their family,”
“International students are more likely to be a successful target since it’s harder for parents based overseas to check whether the event is real.”
Dr Chang says the trans-national nature of the crime has made investigation difficult.
“As the victims are not resident in the country where the syndicate is based and from where the scam is conducted, the police in the third country are usually reluctant to collaborate," he said.
“Furthermore, members of the crime syndicates are highly mobile and it is often too late to secure evidence and arrest criminals by the time the police in Australia have received and actioned a request for investigation assistance.”
Students who have received suspicious calls are advised to call police in their jurisdiction, or the AFP directly.
