Another End of the Line

How to identify and deal with common phone scams

诈骗新套路，你中招了吗？随附反诈指南，拿走不谢

“Hi， it’s Little Zhang， your long-lost friend from middle school！ Listen， can you do me a favor？” comes the voice over your phone. It may at first sound like the rekindling of a beautiful old friendship， but wait...you don’t remember this Zhang guy， he’s calling on a “withheld” number， and now he’s asking for cash for emergency surgery.

That’s right， “Little Zhang” is actually a fraudster， and his ploy is common. Phone scams cost people and businesses in China over 35.3 billion yuan in 2020 alone according to Jiemian News.

Scammers have become increasingly sophisticated since the days they just rang up out of the blue and asked for money. Now， they may know almost everything about you： your name， address， workplace; even the names of people on your phone contact list from the times you helpfully splashed those details on social media or gave various apps access to your data. They are also experienced emotional manipulators， easily appealing to your good nature， and even predicting your reactions， becoming friendly or threatening in turn in order to convince you that you absolutely must hand them your hard-earned money.

Congratulations！

Who hasn’t dreamt of winning the lottery？ Scammers are well aware of those dreams of riches， and use the prospect of big prizes to get your money into their pockets. Don’t fret， they claim on the phone or by text： You are the “prize-winner，” and will receive your handsome reward just as soon as you pay a small “administrative fee”：

Congratulations！ You’ve won 50，000 yuan in the Haoduoyu Supermarket tenth anniversary lottery draw！ All you need to do is pay 2，000 yuan in tax to receive your prize！

GōngxǐnínhuòdéHǎoduōyúChāoshìshízhōuniánqìngdiǎnchōujiǎnghuódòngyīděngjiǎngwǔwànyuánxiànjīn， nínzhǐxūjiǎonàliǎngqiānyuánshuìfèijíkělǐngqǔgāixiànjīnhóngbāo.

恭喜您获得好多鱼超市十周年庆典抽奖活动一等奖五万元现金，您只需缴纳2000元税费即可领取该现金红包。（剩余7246字）