TapTechNews May 12th - According to Beijing Evening News, on Saturday, police officers from the Huajiadi Police Station of Chaoyang Public Security Sub-Bureau received a report from resident Mr. Wang during a visit that a few days ago, after 'staff' from the 'broadband company' came to his home to repair the broadband network, the fixed telephone at home stopped working.
Upon careful examination, the culprit that caused Mr. Wang's home phone to malfunction turned out to be a black 'set-top box' style device attached to the telephone line terminal. Reportedly, the device is a voice gateway device called VOIP, which can convert overseas network signals into local fixed-line signals. Once powered on, it automatically enters a continuous working state. Due to its installation in residents' homes, it is quite covert.
After the installation of the above-mentioned device in the victim's home, the network cable will be silently exploited by a telecom fraud gang for fraud. Through VOIP signal conversion, when other (Beijing) residents receive overseas fraud calls, they will appear as fixed-line calls starting with 010, thereby reducing the vigilance of the fraud targets.
Eventually, the day after Mr. Wang reported the situation, the suspect reappeared in the jurisdiction and attempted to provide 'door-to-door network maintenance services', but was caught on the spot by the police. It is reported that other members of the gang would impersonate broadband company customer service representatives to randomly call customers, claiming to increase bandwidth for free or conduct signal maintenance, and then schedule on-site service appointments. Once the appointment is successful, they contact the suspect, inform them of the installation location, and instruct them to install. Within a month, the suspect installed dozens of VOIP devices according to 'instructions', making a profit of nearly ten thousand RMB. The majority of the victims were elderly people. The suspect has been criminally detained by the Chaoyang police.
The local police remind the public that if they receive a call from broadband customer service personnel or have staff knocking on doors to provide free services under the guise of signal maintenance or speed upgrading, they should immediately call the officially announced customer service number to verify the business. If a suspicious 'black box' is installed in the home, please report to the police for help immediately.
According to a previous report by IT Home, similar telecommunications fraud forms appeared in Shanghai in December last year: criminals used the pretext of on-site network maintenance to install new signal devices, rendering home landlines unusable. Local police found that the 'black set-top box' on the victim's telephone line was actually a GOIP device that had been installed with a router and a data card, which can convert overseas network signals into local fixed-line signals. Once connected to power, it automatically enters a continuous working state. Similarly, overseas calls would also be disguised as fixed-line calls from Shanghai (starting with 021).