According to ChainCatcher citing Hongxing News, a Tsinghua graduate studying at University College London said he was targeted by a telecom fraud scheme for nearly 45 days after arriving in the United Kingdom. On the day he moved into his dormitory, he received a call displaying as an embassy number. The caller claimed his phone had sent large numbers of harassing and fraudulent messages, then transferred him to people posing as cyber police. They cited his personal details and showed him fake police credentials, arrest warrants and statements.
The scammers subjected him to more than three hours of questioning while he was exhausted from adjusting to the time difference. They later convinced him that he was assisting with an international money-laundering investigation, required him to sign a purported confidentiality agreement, and demanded that he stay on calls around the clock and keep his camera on for online monitoring. They also restricted his contact with others.
The perpetrators eventually induced him to buy cryptocurrency and transfer it to designated accounts, and instructed him to deceive his family into sending money for the supposed investigation. After he returned to China, he discovered that scammers had used his credit card to purchase airline tickets to other destinations while he was out of contact.