Although we have known each other for only a few days, the "online boyfriend" trusted herself so much that she sent a huge sum of money to help her buy gold and then sent it by mail... Ms. Cao in Leshan, Sichuan, was overwhelmed by "love" and almost became an accomplice of criminals. Thanks to the timely intervention of the police, she was able to rein in.
Ms. Cao, 55, from Qianwei County, Leshan City, died of illness several years ago. On April 27, she met "Shenzhen born man Zhao" on a social software. "Zhao" chatted with Ms. Cao every day and asked for warmth. The two people gradually became "friendly". Ms. Cao has regarded her partner as her "boyfriend" in her heart.
On May 3, before the "May Day" holiday was over, "Mr. Zhao" contacted Ms. Cao and said that if he wanted to go to Shanghai for business, he needed to buy gold as a gift, and asked Ms. Cao to provide her bank account and purchase 100000 yuan of gold on her behalf. In the afternoon of the same day, 100000 yuan from the remittance account named "Zhu" entered the account provided by Ms. Cao. Seeing her "boyfriend" trusted herself so much, Ms. Cao hurried to the gold store to purchase gold worth 100000 yuan for her. When she asked her "boyfriend"'s mailing address, he said that he would call 200000 yuan the next day and ask her to buy 300000 yuan worth of gold and send it to Shanghai.
▲ Ms. Cao's account was remitted 300000 yuan
On May 4, 200000 yuan from the remittance account named "Liao" was transferred to Ms. Cao's account. Due to the daily limit of bank card, in order not to make her "boyfriend" worried, Ms. Cao found several relatives and friends "working capital" to buy gold. Her behavior aroused her daughter-in-law's vigilance and immediately called the police.
After listening to Ms. Cao's story, the police suspected that the criminals were transferring illegal funds by buying gold, and immediately stopped gold mailing. After a preliminary investigation by the police, it was not her "boyfriend" who remitted 300000 yuan, but Ms. Zhu from Ya'an and Ms. Liao from Guangxi. After inquiry, Ms. Zhu and Ms. Liao said that they were "investing" with their so-called boyfriends. The police concluded that the two men had been cheated by wire and asked them to report to the local public security organ.
▲ Ms. Cao presented a banner to the police
Under the coordination of Yujin Police Station of Qianwei County Public Security Bureau, the gold purchased by Ms. Cao with a value of 300000 yuan was returned to the gold store. The 300000 yuan she received was detained by the police according to law and will be returned to the victim later.
The police handling the case introduced that if they helped buy gold on behalf of others knowing that it was stolen money, they would be suspected of covering up or concealing the crime. The crime refers to the behavior of a natural person or unit with criminal responsibility who knowingly harbors, transfers, purchases, sells gold on behalf of others or conceals it by other means, knowing that it is the proceeds of crime and the proceeds generated therefrom.
However, the police found out that Ms. Cao was deceived in the whole process. She did not know that the 300000 yuan transferred into her account was the proceeds of crime and did not benefit from it. At the same time, she actively cooperated with the public security organ in case investigation and handed over the stolen money to the special account of the public security organ. Ms. Cao's behavior did not constitute a crime.
The police remind the public to improve their ability to identify and prevent the criminal acts of telecommunications network fraud. For all requests for gifts or gold and jewelry, even if the other party offers high remuneration, they must resolutely refuse to become accomplices of criminals if the source of funds is unknown and the situation is suspicious.
Gu Aigang, a Red Star journalist, according to the police
Editor Zhang Li Editor in Charge Li