Chinese students in Vancouver and Richmond are being targeted in an international "sex-for-credit" scam run on the Chinese social networking app WeChat.
WeChat is a texting service that Chinese international students in Vancouver use not only to chat, but also to locate other users in public areas and trade food, cosmetics and toys.
Ming Pao News has reported male students are also being tricked into believing "hot-body" Chinese university students they meet on WeChat want to trade sex.
The WeChat scam reported to Ming Pao by one student in Richmond and two students in downtown Vancouver appears to be identical in its method and players to a WeChat sex-forcredit scam being reported in cities with large Chinese populations, including Singapore.
How the scam works is this: Male students are approached on WeChat by what appear to be sexy female students. Believing the person associated to a WeChat photo avatar is real, the men are engaged in friendly chatting, sometimes exchanging sexy pictures, and eventually the WeChat friend mentions that she dabbles in prostitution and will offer "services" for a fee.
What they don't know is the person they are texting with is a scammer, and likely a man.
In the case of "Mr. I" - a student interviewed by Ming Pao News who didn't want his name revealed - he was told two hours of sex would cost $300 and he could enjoy all-night services for $600. He was directed to wait for his date in front of a Richmond convenience store. When he arrived and texted to his expected date, she told him to buy an iTunes online shopping card inside the convenience store, claiming that to avoid police scrutiny a transfer of iTunes points would be safer than cash. He agreed and transferred a deposit of iTunes points to the woman's email address.
Mr. I told Ming Pao he waited a long time and finally got a call from a man who claimed to be the woman's boss. Speaking Mandarin with a "Guangdong" accent, the man claimed to be a "Big Circle" gangster and demanded that Mr. I transfer more iTunes points if he wanted the girl to show up. The man said that if Mr. I tried to back out gangsters would track him down and cut off his arm.
Mr. I told Ming Pao he went home to hide and didn't report the alleged extortion to police.
A Ming Pao reporter told The Province two more students in downtown Vancouver reported being stung by the same scam, including threats of an attack by gangsters.
It's not clear if the scammers involved in the cases reported to Ming Pao are based in Vancouver, China or elsewhere. But The New Newspaper in Singapore has reported that more than 200 men have fallen for a WeChat scam with identical elements.
