They Pretended to Be Investigators. Then They Scammed Her Out of $33 Million.

  • Lennon Chang

Press/Media: Expert Comment

Description

Lennon Chang, a senior lecturer at Monash University in Australia and an expert in cybercrime in the greater China region, said that elderly victims of such crimes are often plagued by feelings of shame. Sometimes they continue to follow the instructions of their swindlers, who often dangle promises to return the money, even if they begin to suspect that they are being deceived.

“They fear that if they tell other people, they will be criticized for being stupid,” he said in a phone interview. “They are afraid for being teased. They don’t want to be seen as falling into this kind of graft despite decades of life experience.”

Period21 Apr 2021

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • Titlehttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/world/asia/hong-kong-phone-scam.html
    Degree of recognitionInternational
    Media name/outletNew York Times
    Media typePrint
    Country/TerritoryUnited States of America
    Date21/04/21
    DescriptionThe callers said they were investigators from mainland China. The wealthy 90-year-old Hong Kong woman on the other end was led to believe that she was the subject of a money-laundering investigation. Perhaps driven by an urge to clear her name, she began transferring huge amounts of money to bank accounts she did not own.

    Lennon Chang, a senior lecturer at Monash University in Australia and an expert in cybercrime in the greater China region, said that elderly victims of such crimes are often plagued by feelings of shame. Sometimes they continue to follow the instructions of their swindlers, who often dangle promises to return the money, even if they begin to suspect that they are being deceived.

    “They fear that if they tell other people, they will be criticized for being stupid,” he said in a phone interview. “They are afraid for being teased. They don’t want to be seen as falling into this kind of graft despite decades of life experience.”

    URLhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/21/world/asia/hong-kong-phone-scam.html
    PersonsLennon Chang

Keywords

  • Online scam
  • trust
  • Hong Kong