01348886002 - The scammer contacts their victim via phone and communicates in Mandarin, claiming to be from either postal delivery company DHL or authorities in China such as the police or a ‘special investigations team’. The scammer says they have intercepted a parcel, with the victim’s name and address on it, containing multiple fake passports. They also may instead claim their victim’s bank account is compromised and has been used for criminal activities.

The scammer will tell the victims they suspect they are involved in a crime, for example money laundering or embezzlement, and to avoid jail or deportation they need to pay a large sum of money for bail or to get a ‘priority investigation’ to clear their name. They will also try to extract personal information from their victims such as their address, passport number and banking details.

The scammer’s objective is to create fear in the victim so they don’t question the story and will pay them money or give them valuable personal information. If money is sent to the scammer, it is likely lost and will be extremely hard to recover.

The scammer is spoofing their number from a VPN in which makes it hard to trace back.