FBI in Houston warns of scam using Mandarin

Many Chinese across the US and Canada have received scam phone calls in Mandarin from either a person or a robot about a package of documents waiting for pickup at the Chinese Consulate General in various cities including Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.

The FBI Field Office in Houston recently issued a warning about such scams after a discussion with the Chinese Consulate General in Houston.

The FBI warning said that the scam works by sending out hundreds of pre-recorded robocalls to random individuals with US phone numbers. The caller poses as an employee of the local Chinese consulate.

The caller then states that either there is a package at the local consulate to be picked up or asks for personal information in order to clear up issues regarding their legal status in the US.

In both versions of the scam, the robocaller communicates in Mandarin, spoofs the Chinese Consulate General phone number and convincingly declares they represent the Chinese government.

The FBI assesses that those three elements together specifically target Mandarin-speaking individuals in the US.

According to victims or people who tested the scam, when some recipients took the calls seriously, they would often be told that their name or personal bank or credit card were found in some criminal case.

They then would be asked to provide more personal and financial information to clear their name. Some have lost large sums of money in the scams.

Austin Zhao, former chairman of the Asian Chamber of Commerce in Houston, said he recently received such a call from a number with a 713 Houston area code.

Thanks to the warning issued by the consulate a couple months ago, Zhao was aware of the scam.

"The scammer was so thick-skinned that he said: 'Curse all you want, this call costs money both ways. It would cost you too.'

"I said I can afford to pay some money to curse him, then he hung up amid my curses," Zhao said.

Some non-Chinese received the calls too. Brian Liu, an engineer, said one of his colleague received two such calls in one day recently.

"He could not understand it so he just hung up. I told him about the scam and it made him laugh," Liu said.

Deputy Consul General Liu Hongmei said that since the reports of the scam surfaced, the consulate issued a warning on its official website. Consular officials also have met with representatives from the Houston Police Department, the Consular Corps of Houston, Diplomatic Security Service and the FBI.

"We are committed to protecting our citizens traveling abroad and overseas Chinese from such scams," Liu said.

In its warning, the FBI stated that officials with both the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have observed a spike in the number of reported robocalls in recent months.

"This type of scam works because it preys on the confusion many new immigrants and visitors to this country experience when traveling between China and the United States," said FBI Houston Assistant Special Agent in Charge Darryl Wegner.

The FBI Houston Field Office asks people to report the scam at (713) 693-5000; the FBI's website, tips.fbi.gov; or the Federal Trade Commission's complaint website www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov.

Contact the writer at mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com