As colleges and universities across our area return for the spring semester, the FBI Philadelphia Field Office wants to advise our international student communities of a scam involving foreign government impersonators and encourage victims to report instances of this scam.

Since 2022, the FBI Philadelphia Field Office has seen an increase in criminal actors impersonating Chinese police officers to defraud the U.S.-based Chinese community, in particular Chinese students attending universities in our area.

“Through ongoing education and outreach with our partners in law enforcement and academia, we aim to reach potential victims of this scam,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, special agent in charge of FBI Philadelphia. “If you or someone you know has been affected by this scheme, we encourage you to contact our office. Every day, we are working to hold these scammers accountable and provide victims with the resources they need.”

To conduct this scheme, criminal actors tell victims they are under investigation for an alleged financial crime in China and need to pay to avoid arrest. The scheme typically consists of four phases:

• Criminal actors place a call to victims, appearing to be a phone number associated with a mobile telephone service provider, a large retailer, a delivery service, or the Chinese Embassy/Consulate. The criminal actors inform victims their personally identifiable information is linked to either a subject or a victim of a financial fraud investigation.
• Criminal actors then allegedly transfer the call to a Chinese provincial police department that is allegedly investigating the victims. A criminal actor posing as a Chinese police officer informs victims of the details of the alleged crime and may pressure victims to return to China to face trial or threaten them with arrest.
• Criminal actors direct victims to consent to 24/7 video and audio monitoring due to the alleged sensitivity of the investigation and/or to demonstrate the victims' innocence. Victims are instructed not to discuss the details of the case, not to conduct Internet searches, and to report all their daily activities.
• Criminal actors instruct victims to wire a large sum of money to a Chinese bank account to prove their innocence or to post bail to avoid returning to China.
   

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/philadelphia/news/fbi-philadelphia-warns-of-government-impersonation-scam-affecting-international-college-students