Fraudsters use AI and social engineering to target victims in China and Taiwan

Law enforcement in China and Taiwan have intercepted separate fraud attempts involving sophisticated social engineering and digital deception.

In Shanghai, a 65-year-old hospital cleaner, Yu Xiuzhen, used AI face-swapping and scene synthesis technology to pose as a young female doctor born in 1992. Over five months, she maintained a fake persona through nearly 7,000 high-quality short videos to deceive a local contractor, Liu Hui. Yu also impersonated a deceased mother to explain why they could not meet in person. Liu was defrauded of 170,000 yuan under the guise of marriage dowries and fake engineering projects. Police have detained Yu, who has a prior fraud conviction.

In Taiwan, a 65-year-old Buddhist practitioner was targeted by scammers through multiple layers of deception. After being previously defrauded of 850,000 TWD via a fake Japanese antique investment scheme, the individual was targeted again by scammers posing as loan agents. The group attempted to extract 360,000 TWD in “consulting fees” after helping the victim secure a mortgage. Police intervened at a bank to prevent the transfer and took steps to protect the victim's real estate from unauthorized transfers.