A student in Northern Ireland has lost €230,000 to fraudsters posing as police from Beijing. 

Police say the fraud began when the international student from China got a call informing her she was suspected of involvement in money laundering.

Afterwards, two other men claiming to be from the ‘Beijing Police’ contacted her and demanded she transfer £200,000 (€230,000).

The student transferred the funds and has not heard from the men since.

PSNI Detective Superintendent Richard Thornton said it was a “despicable” crime.

“These fraudsters contacted the student online, and even went as far as dressing in uniforms claiming to be officers from 'Beijing Police',” he said.

“These fraudsters went to great lengths to make themselves appear genuine, but that's the last thing they were."

Not a one off

In 2022, the PSNI received two similar reports of fraud from students who had transferred a total of £105,000 (€121,000) to criminals pretending to be Chinese diplomats or police.

The PSNI advises people who suspect they are being targeted by scammers to hang up the phone on them, delete any text messages, never to click on a link they send or transfer money.

Main image: A woman using a laptop.