China’s Embassy in Thailand Warns of ‘Virtual Kidnappings’

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What’s new: The Chinese Embassy in Thailand has issued a warning about a scam in which Chinese citizens living abroad have been tricked into staging their own kidnapping so criminals can con their families out of money.

The embassy has recently received several requests for help from Chinese nationals studying in places like Australia, Canada and Japan who had ended up in Thailand after falling for the scam, according to a statement published Tuesday on its website.

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The Chinese Embassy in Thailand warned of a scam where Chinese citizens are tricked into faking kidnappings to extort money from their families.
Victims were often students in Australia, Canada, and Japan, ending up in Thailand and forced to send staged distress images to their families.
Reported scams included diverse ransom amounts, with notable cases in the U.S. and China, involving up to $138,000 to $2.1 million.

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What Happened When

November 2023：: Law enforcement in Shanghai and other parts of China issued alerts about 'virtual kidnapping' cases, involving ransoms ranging from 1 million yuan ($138,000) to 15 million yuan.

December 2023：: A 17-year-old Chinese student surnamed Zhuang was reported missing in the U.S. and later found to have fallen for the 'virtual kidnapping' scam. His family was conned out of $80,000.

By July 16, 2024：: The Chinese Embassy in Thailand published a statement on its website about a scam in which Chinese citizens living abroad were tricked into staging their own kidnapping.

AI generated, for reference only