Recognise manipulation before money moves
The strongest warning sign is a request that changes your normal process: secrecy, urgency, isolation, a new destination, an unfamiliar app or a sudden exception to independent verification.
Scenarios to recognise
A Mandarin speaking official calls. They know your name, passport details or family address, claim you face arrest or deportation, then demand secrecy or a transfer to a “safe account.” Caller ID, uniforms, documents and video backgrounds can be fabricated. Legitimate consular contact can occur; verify it through a number independently obtained from the official website. [S18]
A respected friend sends an investment link. Their account may be compromised, or they may also have been deceived. Fake profits, small successful withdrawals and a long relationship do not prove an investment is real. Demands for extra “tax” or “unlocking” payments are a known fraud pattern. [S07]
A conference or recruitment contact requires a special tool. Paid audits, investment interviews and coding tests can become pretexts for running unfamiliar software. Decline urgent meeting repair scripts and requests to disable protection. Verify through the organisation's established channel. Separate development tests from devices used for assets. The FBI has warned about these approaches. [S57]
A family member appears in a frightening video. Altered images and videos are used in virtual kidnapping scams. Treat the situation seriously, but authenticate through a separate known channel and involve police if there may be real danger. [S06]
A verification routine everyone can use
- Pause the request. Do not click, transfer, disclose codes or install anything.
- Contact the person or organisation using an existing saved number or an independently located official channel.
- Describe the request in your own words. Do not just ask whether the caller is “real.”
- For financial changes, obtain the instruction again through the approved process and have the required reviewer check it.
An incoming video call is not independent verification. A family phrase may help, but it can be overheard or stolen; do not make it the only proof.
Practise a polite refusal
“I use the same verification process for everyone. I will call through our existing contact details before taking action.”
“我对所有人都采用同样的核实流程。我会通过原来保存的联系方式回拨，确认后再处理。”
If the person objects: pressure to bypass verification is a reason to pause, including when the request seems to come from you, your boss, a partner or a close friend.