Australian police have warned universities and Chinese officials about a spurt in “virtual kidnapping” scams that coerce foreign students to fake their own abductions and trick families overseas into paying ransoms. “If you get one of these phone calls, hang up, ring the police, ring your university, but just don’t pay any money,” he added in a televised news conference. Scam perpetrators call intended victims in the guise of a local Chinese official to warn they have been implicated in a crime in China and must pay a fee to avoid legal action, arrest or deportation, police said. New South Wales has 212,000 foreign students enrolled, say police. Australian universities have warned they risk losing billions of dollars in annual fees because of border closures prompted by the coronavirus.

Source: Standard Digital July 28, 2020 05:21 UTC