Recently, a student from Nankai University was scammed out of 2.2 million yuan (RMB) while shopping on China’s largest second-hand goods trading platform “Xianyu,” sparking attention on the internet.
According to the report from Modern Express, a few days ago, the community police at the Balitai campus of Nankai University issued a notice in the student group, stating that a student of the university was lured step by step by a scammer through a second-hand platform while trying to purchase a Polaroid camera, resulting in a loss of 2.2 million yuan. The police stated that this was the highest amount of money involved in a fraud case in Tianjin in the past half year.
On the afternoon of June 2nd, a Nankai student was recommended by seller A to another seller B on Xianyu. B sent a link, leading the student to enter a website. The customer service claimed there was an activity that “students don’t need to make payments” and sent a QR code asking the student to scan it through Alipay. After scanning, the student was deducted 195 yuan. The customer service explained it was due to a secure payment and requested the student to download a certain conference software for a refund, opening a shared screen. After seeing the balance in the student’s card, the other party asked the student to visit a website, claiming to “generate more transactions” and required multiple transfers through online shopping platforms and bank cards in 22 transactions, totaling 2.2 million yuan.
On June 5th, the topic labeled “Nankai University student scammed out of 2.2 million” briefly trended on Weibo.
Netizens commented, “The first impression is that this university student is really wealthy.” “Simply curious, so rich to be able to take out 2.2 million.”
There are also netizens who remarked, “The focus of this matter should be on anti-fraud education, strict investigation of scammers, platform risk control improvements, rather than mocking the victims. Being scammed is already a painful lesson, ridiculing the victims not only cannot recover the loss but also makes other victims afraid to report, conceal the case, indirectly fueling the arrogance of telecom fraudsters. When encountering such incidents, maintaining compassion is the basic bottom line of being human, let’s accumulate some virtues.”
“Remember, firstly, do not leave the trading platform; secondly, do not casually share your screen with others!”
“The most frightening aspect of such scams is not the sophistication of the methods, but the step-by-step utilization of people’s luck and information gaps. Students who are inexperienced in the world are more prone to being deceived by the tactics of ‘finding a bargain,’ ‘customer service guidance,’ ‘sharing screens,’ and ‘multiple transfers.’ With graduation season and exam weeks approaching, schools should really enhance anti-fraud education more specifically: if someone asks you to scan a strange QR code, open a shared screen, or circumvent platform transactions, it’s basically a trap.”