summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2018-05-06 11:44 pm
summercomfort) wrote2018-05-06 11:44 pm
Me and a Phone Scam
So.... on Apr 25, I came very close to sending some rando in Hong Kong all of my savings.
It was a 6 hr long experience, and was very stressful. Now, I can look at it with relative equanimity, and even glean some lessons and laugh about it, but at the time... oof.
I figure I should put it here for posterity's sake, because it was quite an experience.
I was hanging out at school, grading papers, looking forward to a lunch with a colleague. I didn't have any classes that day, and my parents were going to pick up the baby, so I was feeling relaxed and happy. I'd just finished grading an essay when I get a phone call, with an SF area code number. I usually don't answer phone calls, but hey, it's a good day, and a quick call would be the perfect 5 minute interlude from grading.
It's a message from the Chinese Consulate saying that there's an official notice that they've tried to send me and this is their final time reaching out to me. I'm like ... well, I never answer the phone so it's quite likely that they've missed me, and there *has* been a case in the past where I snubbed the Chinese Consulate and ended up getting assigned a crappy job at the Beijing Olympics, so... I click through. The guy on the other side primly tells me that on April 8th, a Chinese-American woman by the name of 张玉英 was caught in the Beijing airport with 5 fake passports in her luggage, one of which is mine. After asking whether I might have shared my passport info with suspicious people, he says that I need to make a statement with the Beijing police so that they can file it with the case. He tells me the case number of this investigation, and tells me that all I have to do is tell the police that I'm just a poor schlub that maybe didn't keep a tight rein on my passport info, the police will take a statement and give me some tips for keeping my identity more secure in the future. I'm like ... okay??? Like, having my identity stolen kind of sucks, and I'm not that great at speaking Chinese, but sure, sounds straightforward enough...
And then I get transferred. The guy who picks up is like "Hello, Beijing police, x district." I explain the identity thing, and the guy frowns. "Wait, why are you reporting to me?"
"Um... the Chinese Consulate of San Francisco transferred me?"
"Huh, okay. Usually the Beijing airport police handle this stuff, but I can, too." I shrug, figuring it was a miss-transfer from the Consulate, or whatever. Then the guy asks me to explain what happened, and then gives me some tips for keeping my identity more secure, like warning me that some phone apps might secretly collect pictures in my gallery, that people can spy on me through the laptop camera, that online accounts are easily hacked, etc. Then he's like "I'm going to need you to come in to the office to make an official statement, and then I'll send it over to the relevant people."
"Um... I'm in California." I remember that when I lost my passport in Beijing, I definitely had to go into some random district police station to file a report, so it sounds pretty normal.
"Oh! Oh yeah." The guy ponders for a moment, and then says, "Well, since you're in California, in cases where the person can't come in in person, we can take a statement over the phone."
"Oh, that's great!"
"I'm going to have to call you back though, over the phone system that allows me to do over-the-phone recording. Is that okay?"
"Sure."
"I want to make sure that you know it's me calling." He gives me his name (Jiang Hua), his police ID number, the district office address, and the district office phone number. He instructs me to verify online, and I do a quick search and sure enough, the address and phone number are on the district office website.
He hangs up and calls me back. "Okay, ready?"
I immediately start making my statement.
"Wait, hold up. I haven't started recording yet. Beforehand, I need to confirm a few things."
"Okay?"
He asks me to verify my identity, and my location. "It's very important that you're in a quiet place where third parties can't be heard over the phone. If the recording has a third party on it, it invalidates your statement, because you could be accused of colluding with someone on your answers. Are you in a private, secured location?"
I move to a nearby empty classroom.
He starts the recording (a series of beeps), and then states his name, time, and all sorts of official language to preface the recording.
I give my statement: that I'd learned of this from the Chinese Consulate, that I have no knowledge of the person who stole my identity, that I have mailed out my passport to visa services, that I've received some tips on how to be more cautious with my identity info in the future.
"Great."
"Oh, one last thing. I'd like to run your information through our databases to see if your identity has been used elsewhere in China." Then Jiang Hua asks me for my passport number and name, which I give readily (figuring that the Beijing airport people might have it but not him.)
Then he puts down the phone, and I hear him picking up a different one. I briefly wonder if he knows I could hear him. "Hi! I need to run a check on a name. Yes, the name is [my name] and the passport is an American passport with number [my number]. Yes. Great, thank you." He hangs up and picks up my phone again. "Hello? You there?" Well, obviously he didn't know I'd heard it, but the phone is probably still recording, so he'll hear it later when he goes back. Whatevs.
He indicates that we're almost done. Just one last form to fill out. He asks me a few basic demographics questions (what my job is, who I live with, my husband's job, age, etc). I could imagine the form in my head. After that, he tells me that the form has 3 copies -- one goes to the Beijing airport police, one he keeps, and one he'll mail to me. Then comes the long tortuous process of taking down my address. Finally, we're almost done. About an hour has passed.
Then suddenly he gets a call. "Hold on, ma'am."
Over the phone, I hear: "Yes, this is Jiang Hua. Yes, I'm still taking the statement of Ms. [my name]." pause. "What?!" pause. "Let me confirm this: this name and passport has been used to open an account at the Commerce Bank of China, which currently has 2.68 million rmb, part of an ongoing investigation?!" His voice takes on an urgency. "Please send me all of the files you have on this case, ASAP. Yes. I'll take care of it." The sound of a phone getting slammed down. A long sigh. "How did this happen? It was just a simple statement." A deep breath.
Jiang Hua picks up my phone. At this point, I'd already written down all the snippets that I'd heard, and am slightly panicking. "Ma'am, you need to tell me the complete truth now. Is there something that you didn't tell me earlier? Please remember that you are supposed under the eye of the law."
"Umm..."
"Look, do you have any explanation for the fact that there is a Commerce Bank account in your name, in Beijing, opened in 2009, with 2.68 million rmb in it?"
I rack my brain. "Oh, shit."
"What do you mean, oh shit? What have you been keeping from me?"
"Well, I did get my passport stolen in Beijing in 2009."
"That happened and you didn't think to tell me earlier when I was asking you?"
"I... I forgot. It was 10 years ago."
"Well, 10 years ago or not, you should have reported it just now. Do you know what sort of trouble you're in now?"
Jiang Hua goes on to explain that the Commerce Bank account is part of an international pyramid scheme, and is being used to launder money overseas.
Jiang Hua asks me if I am familiar with a man named Zhang Jian, age 58, 1m57, comb-over, thick black glasses. He is an overseas Chinese who is in the banking industry. "Um... no?"
"Why are you sounding so hesitant? Are you hiding something?"
"No, I'm just trying to remember. I don't interact with many Chinese people of that generation."
"Well he is the leader behind this international pyramid scam. Are you sure you don't know him?"
"No!"
"Well, he says he knows you."
"What?"
"We have here in his official confession: he says that you, [my name] are responsible for supplying him with bank accounts in America to help him launder the money, in exchange for 10% of the earnings. Is that true?"
"No way!"
"You could be lying. After all, a criminal like you *would* lie. What other explanation could there be?"
"Well, maybe that woman who stole my identity has been pretending to be me, who knows? All I know is that it's not me."
Jiang Hua calms down and seems to believe me. "Well, ma'am, even if that makes sense, we can't go around accusing people like that without actual evidence."
Then he goes on to tell me some of the details of the case: that Zhang Jian has been caught, and they've found 173 bank accounts under various names in his home, and they're now going through the accounts to figure out the extent of the operation. That many people have been scammed, and it's a top priority case due to the large number of victims. I wasn't sure if he was supposed to be telling me all this, and briefly wonder why the guy is spending all this time on the phone with me. But then again, I figured that it's like 2am in China and maybe he's bored, and also relationships are important, so maybe he's slightly fudging to rules in order to help me. Finally, he tells me that the special investigator appointed to deal with this case is in the process of preparing an international action that would freeze all the bank accounts under all of the affiliated names.
Well, that'd kind of suck, to have my bank account frozen. But before I can say anything, Jiang Hua, because he's such a nice guy, offers a solution.
"Okay, here's what you can do. I can help you apply for an Expedited Financial Investigation. Basically, we'll investigate your finances and check that there aren't any suspicious activity in your accounts. Then the Special Investigator will count those accounts as yours, freeze all the other accounts that are under your name, and change your status from suspect to victim."
Then he takes me through the steps of making a financial disclosure. He's careful to clarify that he's not asking me for bank account numbers or specific values. What's important is to just disclose all of my accounts and a general range, since everything not declared will be frozen. Frankly, doing the mortgage was far more involved. I tell him I have 3 bank accounts: personal, joint, and credit union. He's clearly working off of a form, because for each one he asks the same rote questions -- checking or savings? associated CDs or mutual funds? etc. There's the sound of him stamping the form.
And then he says, "All right, I'm going to submit this form now. This is a very important form because once they start the financial investigation, they will freeze all the bank accounts except for the ones listed." Then he pauses. "I'm going to connect you to the Special Investigator now. Do you know what to say to him?"
Me: "Um... no?" I thought that now that the form is complete, I'm done -- they'll put it through the proper channels, I'll provide whatever is needed to verify my identity when they need it, and things will go back to normal. Jiang Hua then explains, "Since your case is pretty involved, you'll need to explain your situation to the Special Investigator. I can only take you this far, what you say to the Special Investigator is up to you. You have to make the most of it. Don't hesitate in your speech, but also don't say things like 'I'm innocent' -- we need to let the evidence speak for itself."
I'm a bit confused, and also worried -- I don't actually know how to speak formally to Chinese bureaucrats. After telling Jiang Hua that, he takes pity on me, and gives me some phrases to say. I dutifully write them down: "检察长您好，我是涉及到张建诈骗案件的涉案嫌疑人。我叫 [my name], 请求领导给我机会还我的清白，让我申请资金优先调查的机会。" Then the phone beeps a few times and I'm connected.
"Hello?" The voice is pretty gruff and abrupt. I worry that I woke the guy up from sleep, but I say the words. He sounds really impatient. "How did you get this number?"
"Jiang Hua, the cop, connected me." And then I briefly describe what happened thus far, and then say the magic words again.
"Why should I allow you to get the expedited financial investigation? You are one amongst hundreds, why do you deserve to cut in line?" A note of suspicion creeps into his voice. "How did you find out about this, anyway? Do you have an informant?" I hesitate -- I don't want to get Jiang Hua into trouble, so I say that I just heard this was the thing to ask for. There's frustration on the other end of the line. "Okay, fine. Well, I have to give you credit for reaching out and cooperating with authorities. Can you come in to the office tomorrow, and we can process you then."
"Um... I'm in America right now, I can't really come in..."
"Are you saying you don't want to cooperate with the authorities? And yet you claim to be innocent. How can I judge your innocence without seeing you in person? Are you hiding something?"
"No sir, I really do want to cooperate." It's the middle of a week-long break. I really want to be done with this affair. "I guess I could come in ... I'd have to buy plane tickets... they'd be really expensive, and I'd also have to take time off of work...."
"Sounds good. Buy a plane ticket to Beijing, and go find Jiang Hua at his district office. He will then bring you to me and we can process everything." Before I'd really thought through everything, this Investigator is already moving on. "If you don't arrive within five days, I'd consider you to be a prime suspect. So are you going to cooperate?"
"Yes?"
"Okay, I'm going to hand you back to Jiang Hua, and he will tell you when to show up, etc."
And with a beep, I was done. Another moment, and Jiang Hua picks up. "Beijing Police."
"It's me, [my name]"
"Wait, why are you calling me again? Didn't I patch you over to the Special Investigator just now?"
"Well, he said that I need to come see you within five days. So I guess I have to go buy a plane ticket?"
There is a brief moment of silence on the phone. "What did you do? How did you mess it up this much?" Jiang Hua's voice is quivering.
"I ... I just said the thing you told me to say. And he said he needed to see me in person. To clear things up."
Jiang Hua is sounding mad on the phone. "How can you be so stupid?!! I go out on a limb to help you because you're a teacher and you sound like a nice person, but if I knew you were this dumb..." He takes a breath. "You still don't get it, do you?"
I don't.
"The Inspector thinks of you as a prime suspect. He hasn't been talking to you as long as I have. He thinks you're a criminal, and so when he says he wants you to come in for processing..."
Just then, there is a knock on Jianghua's door. He puts the phone down, opens the door. It's his superior. "Jiang Hua! What have you been up to?" "Nothing, sir, just regular--" "Then why did I just get a call from the Special Investigator, telling me to keep my officers in line? Did you or did you not patch a call over to him?" "I did, sir." "You know you're supposed to go through me with these things." "Yes, sir, sorry sir." "Get back to work. This is going in your evaluation and and I better not get any more phone calls from the Special Investigator." "Yes sir, you won't, sir."
There's a moment while Jiang Hua gathered himself. When he gets back on the phone, "Look, lady. You're in America, so you don't really understand how things work here. When you report here, you know what's going to happen? You're going to prison! We can detain you for 180 days without trial. Do you know what Chinese prisons are like?" Jiang Hua proceeds to explain. "I went out on a limb today, helping you. Now, it sounds like you're not worth the trouble."
Yeesh.
"Well, I guess I need to go home and look at plane tickets."
"Don't you get it? If you come here, my job will be to detain you for questioning. It might be several months before they get to investigating your finances. And during that time, your bank accounts will be frozen, and you won't be able to see your family."
"Well, what other option do I have? I don't want to be some international fugitive." It's starting to sound bad, but I have some crazy faith that it'd work out. Take a leave of absence from my job, maybe? "Anyway, if that's the alternative, I'd rather turn myself in to you."
Jiang Hua hesitates. "Ma'am. Can I trust that you're a good person? That you haven't commmitted any crimes?"
"Yes."
"Well..." He's clearly psyching himself up. "I'll patch you over to the Special Investigator one last time. And this time, you need to do whatever you can to convince him to give you the Expedited Financial Investigation. You need to convince him of your innocence."
I nod. "What if he asks where I found out about this expedited service?"
"Just tell him that I told you. I'm stuck with you on this at this point." He sounds grim. "You better promise me that you're innocent. That I'm not helping a criminal go free."
I reassure him, and then I'm patched over to the Special Investigator again.
"Hello?"
I start on a more aggressive spiel, and keep re-iterating that I'm innocent, that someone stole my identity, that I'm a teacher, with family, etc. The Inspector is pretty pissed. "Yeah, when I asked you to turn yourself in, I was planning on throwing you in jail. But you, a suspect in this criminal case, have the temerity to come beg for special favors?? You know what, hold on." He puts down the phone, picks up another one, and dials the district office. "Yes, let me speak to Jiang Hua." "Jiang Hua what the hell are you doing, sending this lady over to bother me time and again? I'm going to get you fired for this breach..." "Oh." "The files?" "Okay, I see them." "All right."
When the inspector comes back on the phone with me, he sounds much calmer. He pulls up my files and confirms some information with me. He says that now that he's talked to me for a bit, he believes that I'm just an innocent teacher rolled up in this whole thing. He'll start the expedited financial investigation process.
I breathe a sigh of relief. I did it -- I've averted some complicated Chinese legal proceeding. I thank the Investigator profusely and reassure him of my innocence.
"All right, let's start the bank account verification process." The investigator confirms my 3 bank accounts. "Hmm... let's start with the third one." It's the credit union. I explain that the nearest branch is a 40 minute drive away. "There isn't a closer one?" No. "All right, well, drive over. I'll stay on the line. After you get there, stay in your car in the parking lot, and then pick up the phone again. I'll have more information by then. And since this case involves multiple international criminals, please refer to me as Uncle Xiong if you're speaking to me on the phone in public."
So I drive over to the Credit Union. I'm nervous, I mumble to myself, and I get there in 40 minutes. I park, I pick up the phone. "Uncle Xiong, I'm here."
"Great. While you were driving, I called the chief of forensic accounting. He is headed over and should be here shortly. He will be able to walk you through the steps." Wow, yet another person involved. And this guy sounds like serious business. I'm not sure exactly how high a 科长 is ranked, but I know it's not small potatoes. "Now, he's a very busy man, and he's doing this as a personal favor to me, so be on your best behavior, all right?" Before I could reply, there's a knock on the door. "Ah, that must be him."
Then I hear the exchange at the door -- the Inspector is very courteous. The Chief is rather curt. "Our standard procedure is to detain them first and then investigate later. Why not just do that?" The investigator pleads my innocence. "All right, then."
The Chief picks up the phone, introduces himself as Yang Xuejing. Says that for this case, they've set up a notarized bank account in Hong Kong to avoid tipping off their investigation to suspects in China. "Do you know what a notarized bank account is?" I don't, so he explains. I don't really understand his explanation. Then he gets to how to use the notarized bank account to investigate my finances. Which was to ... transfer the majority of my bank funds over to the bank account. He reassures me that everything will be transferred back after 3 days, during which they will verify the sources of those funds. He gives me the wiring information and tells me that the wiring cost will be reimbursed. Then he reminds me that there might be bank tellers or managers who are colluding with the suspects in the case, so I shouldn't tip them off by talking about the investigation. "What would your response be if they ask you who you are wiring to, and what it's for? Remember that there might be criminals or colluders."
"Um... I'll just tell them that I'm wiring to a friend."
"Good. Be aware of anyone who seems to be asking abnormal questions, and mentally take down their name and employee number. Then report back. Keep the phone in your purse so that we can keep track. Now go."
So... this is when this whole thing started to feel really weird. Up to when I drove up to the bank, I figured there was probably some sort of bank verification protocol. Like, I'd show the bank person my ID, they verify that my bank account is legit, and then they send some sort of specialized verification code to some Chinese forensics accounting department or something. So when the instructions were to wire a bunch of my money to a bank account in Hong Kong, it suddenly went from "I'm an innocent person rolled up in a web of inscrutable Chinese bureaucracy and crime investigation" to "This might be fraud but I'm not sure."
This feeling got even stronger as I walked into the bank. Like, no way all of these people are involved in some international crime group. And all of the other weird things that I'd been wondering but didn't dare ask came back to the forefront -- it makes sense that Jiang Hua is awake at 1am Beijing time -- he's probably a beat cop on the night shift. But why are the other 2 people awake? It makes sense if Jiang Hua is a slightly older man who doesn't know English, but surely, if you're the leading an important special investigation, you'd have more knowledge of English than Xiong did. And sending me to the credit union suddenly also makes sense -- it's where the bulk of my money is.
But now I hit on a different problem: How do I stop?
Now, you may think this is weird, but at the time, I was like "but it'd be rude to just hang up on them." What if they *were* the real deal? What if I'm not treating them right by jumping to conclusions? Wouldn't Jiang Hua be upset if he risked his job and then I ended up doubting him like this? Is there a way for me to verify the legitimacy of these people on the phone without either losing the hard-won expedited financial investigation process, nor upsetting those people? It's like being in a dream that felt hyper-realistic: a part of me doesn't quite believe that it's not real.
Thankfully, the credit union refused to process my wire transfer because they required the recipient's birthdate, which doesn't come standard with most wire transfers.
So I beat a hasty retreat, and head back to the car. I report that there was a missing birthday, and I hear Chief Yang on the other side being like "What? Wire transfers don't need birthdates."
"Well, it's a credit union. You know how credit unions are."
He doesn't know what credit unions are, and kept demanding that I go to a larger branch of the bank. I explain that there *is* no other branch of the bank. (Actually not true, there *is* another one.) Chief Yang sounds impatient. "All right, well, let's leave that one for now, and check out the other 2 banks on your report. Which one has a closer branch?"
I cite my personal one, because (a) no way am I going to get our joint account rolled up in this, (b) it has the least money, and (c) it's on the way home, so I'm not actually losing much time if I play along and gather more details to confirm my suspicion that the thing I've been involved in for the last x hours has actually all been fake.
I get to my personal bank, and once I park, they were like "Okay, you listed this much money in the bank, so wire this much to the account."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I recently did my taxes, and so I'm actually waiting for the IRS to take a bunch of it out of this account."
There's some hesitation. "Well... fine. Just go in and wire what you can to the account. As long as it's a whole number." I almost burst out laughing, given how much they've readjusted their expectations and their tone of voice. At this point I'm 80% sure that it's fraud, but I still don't know how to end it.
I go into the bank, and after I express doubt about my need to wire, the person in charge of the wiring give me an excuse to say no -- apparently it's cheaper to wire online than in the bank. So I go back out and tell the people that on the phone -- I'll go home and wire them the money that the IRS won't be taking -- $1000.
It's clearly not enough. Chief Yang starts by saying that I should wire the entirety of the bank account over, and they'll return the money in 3 days, so the money will be back by the time the IRS debits it. I point out that (a) I don't know when the IRS is going to do it, and (b) if there's no money in the bank account at that time, I *will* get my assets frozen. At this point, Chief Yang starts yelling -- "I'm here as a special favor, because Inspector Xiong vouched for you, and you promised to cooperate. Why are you putting up all of these flimsy excuses? Are you hiding something? Are you a criminal? If you don't cooperate, we can do this the formal way -- in the next 3 days, we'll send someone to bring you back to China for further investigation."
And then, mercifully, the line cuts off. They try calling back immediately, and then about 20 more times over the next 2 days, but I never pick up.
Well, that's the whole story.
It was quite the emotional roller coaster, and it's made me think a lot about why I fell for it --
- knowing just enough Chinese to understand, but not enough to question the situation
- trusting authority and not being willing to challenge them
- not wanting to upset people
It was a 6 hr long experience, and was very stressful. Now, I can look at it with relative equanimity, and even glean some lessons and laugh about it, but at the time... oof.
I figure I should put it here for posterity's sake, because it was quite an experience.
I was hanging out at school, grading papers, looking forward to a lunch with a colleague. I didn't have any classes that day, and my parents were going to pick up the baby, so I was feeling relaxed and happy. I'd just finished grading an essay when I get a phone call, with an SF area code number. I usually don't answer phone calls, but hey, it's a good day, and a quick call would be the perfect 5 minute interlude from grading.
It's a message from the Chinese Consulate saying that there's an official notice that they've tried to send me and this is their final time reaching out to me. I'm like ... well, I never answer the phone so it's quite likely that they've missed me, and there *has* been a case in the past where I snubbed the Chinese Consulate and ended up getting assigned a crappy job at the Beijing Olympics, so... I click through. The guy on the other side primly tells me that on April 8th, a Chinese-American woman by the name of 张玉英 was caught in the Beijing airport with 5 fake passports in her luggage, one of which is mine. After asking whether I might have shared my passport info with suspicious people, he says that I need to make a statement with the Beijing police so that they can file it with the case. He tells me the case number of this investigation, and tells me that all I have to do is tell the police that I'm just a poor schlub that maybe didn't keep a tight rein on my passport info, the police will take a statement and give me some tips for keeping my identity more secure in the future. I'm like ... okay??? Like, having my identity stolen kind of sucks, and I'm not that great at speaking Chinese, but sure, sounds straightforward enough...
And then I get transferred. The guy who picks up is like "Hello, Beijing police, x district." I explain the identity thing, and the guy frowns. "Wait, why are you reporting to me?"
"Um... the Chinese Consulate of San Francisco transferred me?"
"Huh, okay. Usually the Beijing airport police handle this stuff, but I can, too." I shrug, figuring it was a miss-transfer from the Consulate, or whatever. Then the guy asks me to explain what happened, and then gives me some tips for keeping my identity more secure, like warning me that some phone apps might secretly collect pictures in my gallery, that people can spy on me through the laptop camera, that online accounts are easily hacked, etc. Then he's like "I'm going to need you to come in to the office to make an official statement, and then I'll send it over to the relevant people."
"Um... I'm in California." I remember that when I lost my passport in Beijing, I definitely had to go into some random district police station to file a report, so it sounds pretty normal.
"Oh! Oh yeah." The guy ponders for a moment, and then says, "Well, since you're in California, in cases where the person can't come in in person, we can take a statement over the phone."
"Oh, that's great!"
"I'm going to have to call you back though, over the phone system that allows me to do over-the-phone recording. Is that okay?"
"Sure."
"I want to make sure that you know it's me calling." He gives me his name (Jiang Hua), his police ID number, the district office address, and the district office phone number. He instructs me to verify online, and I do a quick search and sure enough, the address and phone number are on the district office website.
He hangs up and calls me back. "Okay, ready?"
I immediately start making my statement.
"Wait, hold up. I haven't started recording yet. Beforehand, I need to confirm a few things."
"Okay?"
He asks me to verify my identity, and my location. "It's very important that you're in a quiet place where third parties can't be heard over the phone. If the recording has a third party on it, it invalidates your statement, because you could be accused of colluding with someone on your answers. Are you in a private, secured location?"
I move to a nearby empty classroom.
He starts the recording (a series of beeps), and then states his name, time, and all sorts of official language to preface the recording.
I give my statement: that I'd learned of this from the Chinese Consulate, that I have no knowledge of the person who stole my identity, that I have mailed out my passport to visa services, that I've received some tips on how to be more cautious with my identity info in the future.
"Great."
"Oh, one last thing. I'd like to run your information through our databases to see if your identity has been used elsewhere in China." Then Jiang Hua asks me for my passport number and name, which I give readily (figuring that the Beijing airport people might have it but not him.)
Then he puts down the phone, and I hear him picking up a different one. I briefly wonder if he knows I could hear him. "Hi! I need to run a check on a name. Yes, the name is [my name] and the passport is an American passport with number [my number]. Yes. Great, thank you." He hangs up and picks up my phone again. "Hello? You there?" Well, obviously he didn't know I'd heard it, but the phone is probably still recording, so he'll hear it later when he goes back. Whatevs.
He indicates that we're almost done. Just one last form to fill out. He asks me a few basic demographics questions (what my job is, who I live with, my husband's job, age, etc). I could imagine the form in my head. After that, he tells me that the form has 3 copies -- one goes to the Beijing airport police, one he keeps, and one he'll mail to me. Then comes the long tortuous process of taking down my address. Finally, we're almost done. About an hour has passed.
Then suddenly he gets a call. "Hold on, ma'am."
Over the phone, I hear: "Yes, this is Jiang Hua. Yes, I'm still taking the statement of Ms. [my name]." pause. "What?!" pause. "Let me confirm this: this name and passport has been used to open an account at the Commerce Bank of China, which currently has 2.68 million rmb, part of an ongoing investigation?!" His voice takes on an urgency. "Please send me all of the files you have on this case, ASAP. Yes. I'll take care of it." The sound of a phone getting slammed down. A long sigh. "How did this happen? It was just a simple statement." A deep breath.
Jiang Hua picks up my phone. At this point, I'd already written down all the snippets that I'd heard, and am slightly panicking. "Ma'am, you need to tell me the complete truth now. Is there something that you didn't tell me earlier? Please remember that you are supposed under the eye of the law."
"Umm..."
"Look, do you have any explanation for the fact that there is a Commerce Bank account in your name, in Beijing, opened in 2009, with 2.68 million rmb in it?"
I rack my brain. "Oh, shit."
"What do you mean, oh shit? What have you been keeping from me?"
"Well, I did get my passport stolen in Beijing in 2009."
"That happened and you didn't think to tell me earlier when I was asking you?"
"I... I forgot. It was 10 years ago."
"Well, 10 years ago or not, you should have reported it just now. Do you know what sort of trouble you're in now?"
Jiang Hua goes on to explain that the Commerce Bank account is part of an international pyramid scheme, and is being used to launder money overseas.
Jiang Hua asks me if I am familiar with a man named Zhang Jian, age 58, 1m57, comb-over, thick black glasses. He is an overseas Chinese who is in the banking industry. "Um... no?"
"Why are you sounding so hesitant? Are you hiding something?"
"No, I'm just trying to remember. I don't interact with many Chinese people of that generation."
"Well he is the leader behind this international pyramid scam. Are you sure you don't know him?"
"No!"
"Well, he says he knows you."
"What?"
"We have here in his official confession: he says that you, [my name] are responsible for supplying him with bank accounts in America to help him launder the money, in exchange for 10% of the earnings. Is that true?"
"No way!"
"You could be lying. After all, a criminal like you *would* lie. What other explanation could there be?"
"Well, maybe that woman who stole my identity has been pretending to be me, who knows? All I know is that it's not me."
Jiang Hua calms down and seems to believe me. "Well, ma'am, even if that makes sense, we can't go around accusing people like that without actual evidence."
Then he goes on to tell me some of the details of the case: that Zhang Jian has been caught, and they've found 173 bank accounts under various names in his home, and they're now going through the accounts to figure out the extent of the operation. That many people have been scammed, and it's a top priority case due to the large number of victims. I wasn't sure if he was supposed to be telling me all this, and briefly wonder why the guy is spending all this time on the phone with me. But then again, I figured that it's like 2am in China and maybe he's bored, and also relationships are important, so maybe he's slightly fudging to rules in order to help me. Finally, he tells me that the special investigator appointed to deal with this case is in the process of preparing an international action that would freeze all the bank accounts under all of the affiliated names.
Well, that'd kind of suck, to have my bank account frozen. But before I can say anything, Jiang Hua, because he's such a nice guy, offers a solution.
"Okay, here's what you can do. I can help you apply for an Expedited Financial Investigation. Basically, we'll investigate your finances and check that there aren't any suspicious activity in your accounts. Then the Special Investigator will count those accounts as yours, freeze all the other accounts that are under your name, and change your status from suspect to victim."
Then he takes me through the steps of making a financial disclosure. He's careful to clarify that he's not asking me for bank account numbers or specific values. What's important is to just disclose all of my accounts and a general range, since everything not declared will be frozen. Frankly, doing the mortgage was far more involved. I tell him I have 3 bank accounts: personal, joint, and credit union. He's clearly working off of a form, because for each one he asks the same rote questions -- checking or savings? associated CDs or mutual funds? etc. There's the sound of him stamping the form.
And then he says, "All right, I'm going to submit this form now. This is a very important form because once they start the financial investigation, they will freeze all the bank accounts except for the ones listed." Then he pauses. "I'm going to connect you to the Special Investigator now. Do you know what to say to him?"
Me: "Um... no?" I thought that now that the form is complete, I'm done -- they'll put it through the proper channels, I'll provide whatever is needed to verify my identity when they need it, and things will go back to normal. Jiang Hua then explains, "Since your case is pretty involved, you'll need to explain your situation to the Special Investigator. I can only take you this far, what you say to the Special Investigator is up to you. You have to make the most of it. Don't hesitate in your speech, but also don't say things like 'I'm innocent' -- we need to let the evidence speak for itself."
I'm a bit confused, and also worried -- I don't actually know how to speak formally to Chinese bureaucrats. After telling Jiang Hua that, he takes pity on me, and gives me some phrases to say. I dutifully write them down: "检察长您好，我是涉及到张建诈骗案件的涉案嫌疑人。我叫 [my name], 请求领导给我机会还我的清白，让我申请资金优先调查的机会。" Then the phone beeps a few times and I'm connected.
"Hello?" The voice is pretty gruff and abrupt. I worry that I woke the guy up from sleep, but I say the words. He sounds really impatient. "How did you get this number?"
"Jiang Hua, the cop, connected me." And then I briefly describe what happened thus far, and then say the magic words again.
"Why should I allow you to get the expedited financial investigation? You are one amongst hundreds, why do you deserve to cut in line?" A note of suspicion creeps into his voice. "How did you find out about this, anyway? Do you have an informant?" I hesitate -- I don't want to get Jiang Hua into trouble, so I say that I just heard this was the thing to ask for. There's frustration on the other end of the line. "Okay, fine. Well, I have to give you credit for reaching out and cooperating with authorities. Can you come in to the office tomorrow, and we can process you then."
"Um... I'm in America right now, I can't really come in..."
"Are you saying you don't want to cooperate with the authorities? And yet you claim to be innocent. How can I judge your innocence without seeing you in person? Are you hiding something?"
"No sir, I really do want to cooperate." It's the middle of a week-long break. I really want to be done with this affair. "I guess I could come in ... I'd have to buy plane tickets... they'd be really expensive, and I'd also have to take time off of work...."
"Sounds good. Buy a plane ticket to Beijing, and go find Jiang Hua at his district office. He will then bring you to me and we can process everything." Before I'd really thought through everything, this Investigator is already moving on. "If you don't arrive within five days, I'd consider you to be a prime suspect. So are you going to cooperate?"
"Yes?"
"Okay, I'm going to hand you back to Jiang Hua, and he will tell you when to show up, etc."
And with a beep, I was done. Another moment, and Jiang Hua picks up. "Beijing Police."
"It's me, [my name]"
"Wait, why are you calling me again? Didn't I patch you over to the Special Investigator just now?"
"Well, he said that I need to come see you within five days. So I guess I have to go buy a plane ticket?"
There is a brief moment of silence on the phone. "What did you do? How did you mess it up this much?" Jiang Hua's voice is quivering.
"I ... I just said the thing you told me to say. And he said he needed to see me in person. To clear things up."
Jiang Hua is sounding mad on the phone. "How can you be so stupid?!! I go out on a limb to help you because you're a teacher and you sound like a nice person, but if I knew you were this dumb..." He takes a breath. "You still don't get it, do you?"
I don't.
"The Inspector thinks of you as a prime suspect. He hasn't been talking to you as long as I have. He thinks you're a criminal, and so when he says he wants you to come in for processing..."
Just then, there is a knock on Jianghua's door. He puts the phone down, opens the door. It's his superior. "Jiang Hua! What have you been up to?" "Nothing, sir, just regular--" "Then why did I just get a call from the Special Investigator, telling me to keep my officers in line? Did you or did you not patch a call over to him?" "I did, sir." "You know you're supposed to go through me with these things." "Yes, sir, sorry sir." "Get back to work. This is going in your evaluation and and I better not get any more phone calls from the Special Investigator." "Yes sir, you won't, sir."
There's a moment while Jiang Hua gathered himself. When he gets back on the phone, "Look, lady. You're in America, so you don't really understand how things work here. When you report here, you know what's going to happen? You're going to prison! We can detain you for 180 days without trial. Do you know what Chinese prisons are like?" Jiang Hua proceeds to explain. "I went out on a limb today, helping you. Now, it sounds like you're not worth the trouble."
Yeesh.
"Well, I guess I need to go home and look at plane tickets."
"Don't you get it? If you come here, my job will be to detain you for questioning. It might be several months before they get to investigating your finances. And during that time, your bank accounts will be frozen, and you won't be able to see your family."
"Well, what other option do I have? I don't want to be some international fugitive." It's starting to sound bad, but I have some crazy faith that it'd work out. Take a leave of absence from my job, maybe? "Anyway, if that's the alternative, I'd rather turn myself in to you."
Jiang Hua hesitates. "Ma'am. Can I trust that you're a good person? That you haven't commmitted any crimes?"
"Yes."
"Well..." He's clearly psyching himself up. "I'll patch you over to the Special Investigator one last time. And this time, you need to do whatever you can to convince him to give you the Expedited Financial Investigation. You need to convince him of your innocence."
I nod. "What if he asks where I found out about this expedited service?"
"Just tell him that I told you. I'm stuck with you on this at this point." He sounds grim. "You better promise me that you're innocent. That I'm not helping a criminal go free."
I reassure him, and then I'm patched over to the Special Investigator again.
"Hello?"
I start on a more aggressive spiel, and keep re-iterating that I'm innocent, that someone stole my identity, that I'm a teacher, with family, etc. The Inspector is pretty pissed. "Yeah, when I asked you to turn yourself in, I was planning on throwing you in jail. But you, a suspect in this criminal case, have the temerity to come beg for special favors?? You know what, hold on." He puts down the phone, picks up another one, and dials the district office. "Yes, let me speak to Jiang Hua." "Jiang Hua what the hell are you doing, sending this lady over to bother me time and again? I'm going to get you fired for this breach..." "Oh." "The files?" "Okay, I see them." "All right."
When the inspector comes back on the phone with me, he sounds much calmer. He pulls up my files and confirms some information with me. He says that now that he's talked to me for a bit, he believes that I'm just an innocent teacher rolled up in this whole thing. He'll start the expedited financial investigation process.
I breathe a sigh of relief. I did it -- I've averted some complicated Chinese legal proceeding. I thank the Investigator profusely and reassure him of my innocence.
"All right, let's start the bank account verification process." The investigator confirms my 3 bank accounts. "Hmm... let's start with the third one." It's the credit union. I explain that the nearest branch is a 40 minute drive away. "There isn't a closer one?" No. "All right, well, drive over. I'll stay on the line. After you get there, stay in your car in the parking lot, and then pick up the phone again. I'll have more information by then. And since this case involves multiple international criminals, please refer to me as Uncle Xiong if you're speaking to me on the phone in public."
So I drive over to the Credit Union. I'm nervous, I mumble to myself, and I get there in 40 minutes. I park, I pick up the phone. "Uncle Xiong, I'm here."
"Great. While you were driving, I called the chief of forensic accounting. He is headed over and should be here shortly. He will be able to walk you through the steps." Wow, yet another person involved. And this guy sounds like serious business. I'm not sure exactly how high a 科长 is ranked, but I know it's not small potatoes. "Now, he's a very busy man, and he's doing this as a personal favor to me, so be on your best behavior, all right?" Before I could reply, there's a knock on the door. "Ah, that must be him."
Then I hear the exchange at the door -- the Inspector is very courteous. The Chief is rather curt. "Our standard procedure is to detain them first and then investigate later. Why not just do that?" The investigator pleads my innocence. "All right, then."
The Chief picks up the phone, introduces himself as Yang Xuejing. Says that for this case, they've set up a notarized bank account in Hong Kong to avoid tipping off their investigation to suspects in China. "Do you know what a notarized bank account is?" I don't, so he explains. I don't really understand his explanation. Then he gets to how to use the notarized bank account to investigate my finances. Which was to ... transfer the majority of my bank funds over to the bank account. He reassures me that everything will be transferred back after 3 days, during which they will verify the sources of those funds. He gives me the wiring information and tells me that the wiring cost will be reimbursed. Then he reminds me that there might be bank tellers or managers who are colluding with the suspects in the case, so I shouldn't tip them off by talking about the investigation. "What would your response be if they ask you who you are wiring to, and what it's for? Remember that there might be criminals or colluders."
"Um... I'll just tell them that I'm wiring to a friend."
"Good. Be aware of anyone who seems to be asking abnormal questions, and mentally take down their name and employee number. Then report back. Keep the phone in your purse so that we can keep track. Now go."
So... this is when this whole thing started to feel really weird. Up to when I drove up to the bank, I figured there was probably some sort of bank verification protocol. Like, I'd show the bank person my ID, they verify that my bank account is legit, and then they send some sort of specialized verification code to some Chinese forensics accounting department or something. So when the instructions were to wire a bunch of my money to a bank account in Hong Kong, it suddenly went from "I'm an innocent person rolled up in a web of inscrutable Chinese bureaucracy and crime investigation" to "This might be fraud but I'm not sure."
This feeling got even stronger as I walked into the bank. Like, no way all of these people are involved in some international crime group. And all of the other weird things that I'd been wondering but didn't dare ask came back to the forefront -- it makes sense that Jiang Hua is awake at 1am Beijing time -- he's probably a beat cop on the night shift. But why are the other 2 people awake? It makes sense if Jiang Hua is a slightly older man who doesn't know English, but surely, if you're the leading an important special investigation, you'd have more knowledge of English than Xiong did. And sending me to the credit union suddenly also makes sense -- it's where the bulk of my money is.
But now I hit on a different problem: How do I stop?
Now, you may think this is weird, but at the time, I was like "but it'd be rude to just hang up on them." What if they *were* the real deal? What if I'm not treating them right by jumping to conclusions? Wouldn't Jiang Hua be upset if he risked his job and then I ended up doubting him like this? Is there a way for me to verify the legitimacy of these people on the phone without either losing the hard-won expedited financial investigation process, nor upsetting those people? It's like being in a dream that felt hyper-realistic: a part of me doesn't quite believe that it's not real.
Thankfully, the credit union refused to process my wire transfer because they required the recipient's birthdate, which doesn't come standard with most wire transfers.
So I beat a hasty retreat, and head back to the car. I report that there was a missing birthday, and I hear Chief Yang on the other side being like "What? Wire transfers don't need birthdates."
"Well, it's a credit union. You know how credit unions are."
He doesn't know what credit unions are, and kept demanding that I go to a larger branch of the bank. I explain that there *is* no other branch of the bank. (Actually not true, there *is* another one.) Chief Yang sounds impatient. "All right, well, let's leave that one for now, and check out the other 2 banks on your report. Which one has a closer branch?"
I cite my personal one, because (a) no way am I going to get our joint account rolled up in this, (b) it has the least money, and (c) it's on the way home, so I'm not actually losing much time if I play along and gather more details to confirm my suspicion that the thing I've been involved in for the last x hours has actually all been fake.
I get to my personal bank, and once I park, they were like "Okay, you listed this much money in the bank, so wire this much to the account."
"Oh, I'm sorry, I recently did my taxes, and so I'm actually waiting for the IRS to take a bunch of it out of this account."
There's some hesitation. "Well... fine. Just go in and wire what you can to the account. As long as it's a whole number." I almost burst out laughing, given how much they've readjusted their expectations and their tone of voice. At this point I'm 80% sure that it's fraud, but I still don't know how to end it.
I go into the bank, and after I express doubt about my need to wire, the person in charge of the wiring give me an excuse to say no -- apparently it's cheaper to wire online than in the bank. So I go back out and tell the people that on the phone -- I'll go home and wire them the money that the IRS won't be taking -- $1000.
It's clearly not enough. Chief Yang starts by saying that I should wire the entirety of the bank account over, and they'll return the money in 3 days, so the money will be back by the time the IRS debits it. I point out that (a) I don't know when the IRS is going to do it, and (b) if there's no money in the bank account at that time, I *will* get my assets frozen. At this point, Chief Yang starts yelling -- "I'm here as a special favor, because Inspector Xiong vouched for you, and you promised to cooperate. Why are you putting up all of these flimsy excuses? Are you hiding something? Are you a criminal? If you don't cooperate, we can do this the formal way -- in the next 3 days, we'll send someone to bring you back to China for further investigation."
And then, mercifully, the line cuts off. They try calling back immediately, and then about 20 more times over the next 2 days, but I never pick up.
Well, that's the whole story.
It was quite the emotional roller coaster, and it's made me think a lot about why I fell for it --
- knowing just enough Chinese to understand, but not enough to question the situation
- trusting authority and not being willing to challenge them
- not wanting to upset people
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