Waterloo police say victims duped of $245,000 in scam targeting Chinese students

Waterloo Regional Police say that Chinese students have been bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past few months as the result of an extortion scam.

Police say the international students, who attend post-secondary institutions in the area, have reported total losses of $245,000 from the two incidents since October of last year.

The scammers call their victims through an automated phone message which is made to impersonate Chinese officials.

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“The fraudsters often advise the victim that they have been linked to crimes in China in order to coerce (them),” a police release said. “The victims are threatened (with) arrest or harm to their families.”

The scammers also reach out to the families of the victims in China, where they also makes claims of being Chinese officials. They tell the families their loved ones are in some sort of danger and demand money to ensure safety.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.