Miami U. student from China tells police he was scammed out of $54K with threats from his home country

A Miami University student from China told police he was scammed out of $54,000 by suspects who threatened him with deportation and criminal charges at home.

The student contacted police on Jan. 29. He said he received a call from someone saying that person was from the Chinese embassy in New York and was being investigated for international fraud. He was told his passport information had been stolen and was being used to defraud people.

He was then connected with someone who was said to be with the Shanghai police and instructed him to send $4,000 from a bank account through the Hong Kong Bank to see if it was safe. He was told if he did not comply, they would inform the FBI and he would be deported back to China and charged.

He sent that amount Jan. 23 and then the next day sent $50,000 to the Hong Kong Bank through another bank account.

He told police the people he was talking to always called him and even video chatted with him, which made them more believable and also showed him their work cards.

He did not hear from them again after that and was instructed to send Oxford police copies of any evidence between himself and the people scamming him.

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