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In the twinkling of an eye, the COVID-19 has been effectively controlled under the national dynamic zero prevention and control policy. During this period, in order to quickly cut off the transmission chain and prevent the spread of the epidemic, some areas need temporary closed management or home office, which makes people's work and travel in a kind of uncertainty that may be restricted at any time. In this special period of anti epidemic, the number of "epidemic related" fraud cases with different means has increased. Below, the author analyzes the characteristics of several typical cases and gives suggestions on how to prevent them.

01. taking advantage of the urgent demand for living materials of the people living in isolation at home, falsely claiming that they can purchase hot commodities lower than the market price, asking others to transfer money, or collecting the community group purchase deposit in the way of fictitious merchant identity to defraud others of money.

Case - group purchase fraud by Yang

The group purchase fraud case of Yang, which was prosecuted by Shanghai Hongkou District People's Procuratorate on May 20, 2022, is a typical case of "epidemic related" fraud. Yang was accused of publishing false shopping information in a number of community group purchase wechat groups, falsely claiming that he was a merchant, and was able to provide all kinds of fresh daily necessities during the closure period. He defrauded several victims of money on the grounds that he needed to pay a deposit in advance for recharging the live broadcast platform account. After examination, the Shanghai Hongkou District People's Procuratorate held that the criminal responsibility should be investigated for the crime of fraud.

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02. on the grounds of verification and feedback of nucleic acid detection or streaming transfer information, induce others to input sensitive information such as ID number, bank card number or verification code by sending phishing messages, e-mails, etc., manipulate payment account debinding, steal others' bank cards, etc.

Case - sending nucleic acid detection feedback SMS to implement telecom network fraud

During the epidemic prevention period, having a negative certificate of nucleic acid test is the prerequisite for most people to travel smoothly. However, some actors took advantage of this special situation, pretended to be epidemic prevention workers, sent short messages containing phishing links such as "self-examination procedures", "Declaration of personal information", "feedback of negative results of nucleic acid test", and induced others to click the link to fill in personal information such as name, ID number, bank card number, etc, And then swindle others' property by swiping bank cards.

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03. fake a staff member of an express company or an insurance company, falsely claiming that the express will be destroyed if it is tested positive, and send a link with an application for claim settlement, so as to defraud others' money by requiring others to provide a bank card number, payment password, verification code or completing real name authentication through transfer.

Case - induced transfer under the pretext that "real name authentication" is required for the claim settlement of the destroyed Express

In May, 2022, Ms. Chen received a customer service call from a self claimed express company. The other party said that a express she had not received had been detected as "Xinguan positive" and needed to be destroyed, but could handle claims. Ms. Chen added wechat and downloaded a video conference software according to the instructions of the other party, transferred money to the "security account" designated by the other party according to the video guidance, and completed "real name authentication". After the transfer, Ms. Chen reported the case to the local police station because she had not received the refund.

(picture from the network)

Case analysis

The crime of fraud is stipulated in Article 266 of the criminal law of our country. For the purpose of illegal possession, the perpetrator uses deception to defraud a large amount of public or private property, which constitutes the crime. At first glance, there are various means of "epidemic related" fraud cases, but in essence, the perpetrators mainly took advantage of the current situation of epidemic prevention and control. At present, the isolated people at home and the public are worried that the lack of living materials and the positive nucleic acid test will cause inconvenience to normal life. They took the opportunity to invent, including but not limited to epidemic prevention workers, workers of nucleic acid testing institutions, community group purchase channels The identity of express or insurance company employees is used to cheat others' trust, and then fabricate false information such as paying can accelerate the speed of nucleic acid detection results, can buy daily necessities at a low price, assist in handling claims, and issue home isolation subsidies. The parties are required to provide personal information, verification code, or pay deposit, transfer, etc. the ultimate purpose of the above deceptions is to illegally occupy other people's money.

Therefore, in order to effectively prevent "epidemic related" fraud, it is necessary to understand the common fraud means, but also realize that compared with traditional fraud, the telecom network fraud crime using communication tools and Internet technology has stronger concealment. The public should be vigilant at all times. Whether they meet strangers through the Internet or receive calls, text messages or emails from unknown sources, they should verify the identity of the other party through official or formal channels and keep the corresponding call records, chat records and other evidence in time. At the same time, they should not easily pay, transfer money, click unknown links or scan QR codes, and do not easily provide names, ID number Bank card number, verification code and other personal sensitive information to avoid property losses. If it is found that it may be defrauded, it shall timely sort out the evidence materials and report the case to the public security organ with jurisdiction, so as to protect its own legitimate rights and interests from infringement.