Beijing police crack down on scams targeting juveniles

Beijing police have shared details of two recent cases involving juveniles being scammed and have vowed to intensify efforts against fraudsters targeting young people.

In May, police in Tongzhou district dismantled a fraud ring that allegedly enticed young gamers with offers of free in-game skins, using remote-access malware to take control of their devices, Wang Qi, deputy head of the district's public security department, revealed at a news conference on Monday.

"The group posted advertisements on gaming and short-video platforms, offering free skin 'giveaways' to attract underage victims. They tricked these young individuals into downloading Trojan programs that allowed remote control of their devices," Wang said.

He explained that once the malware was installed, it granted scammers full access to the victims' phones, enabling them to secretly view screens, intercept SMS verification codes, and activate password-free payments to empty bank accounts.

In a separate incident, a middle school student was lured by an ad for a "free membership", leading to an online interaction with a stranger. During a video call, the suspect, dressed in what seemed to be a police uniform, intimidated the student with threats, showed a fake case-filing notice, and falsely accused the student of being under investigation for fraud.

"Panicked, the young victim took his father's phone and, following the suspect's directions, installed several fraudulent apps, resulting in a financial loss of 183,000 yuan ($27,000)," Wang said.

He outlined that scams targeting teenagers generally unfold in three stages. First, scammers post fake giveaway ads — like "free limited-edition skins", "free item-drawing services", or "free membership" — in public chat areas of popular games, comment sections on short-video platforms, or social media groups to lure young users into adding them as contacts.

"Once contact is made, scammers send a link or QR code under the guise of 'showing you how to claim it' or 'activating your account', tricking teens into downloading malicious apps with 'remote assistance' or 'screen-sharing' features," Wang said.

"Through intimidation, scammers pressure young victims to hide the app installation from their parents and grant the apps system permissions," he added. "They then steal payment passwords and SMS verification codes from the parents, enabling password-free payments and making repeated small transactions until the accounts are depleted."

Wang urged young users not to click on links or QR codes from strangers or download apps from unauthorized platforms. He also encouraged juveniles to inform parents, teachers, or the police if they feel threatened by online contacts.