Public Anti-Fraud Campaign

After they left the police station, Lin Qiye said in a low voice, "If we report it while the scammers are in the middle of conning someone, that's catching them in the act. With both people and stolen goods seized, everything becomes simple."

Some people understood, while others did not. Lin Qiye went on explaining, "I have a plan. Aren't they scammers? We'll give them a taste of their own medicine and scam them once too. No, we should say we'll take the initiative to let them scam us again, then report it when all the evidence is ironclad and bring them to justice."

"How do we get scammed?" Tian Nina, rich in literary imagination, was immediately drawn in.

"We disguise ourselves as a big fish and make them think they're about to make a fortune. Then we call the police when the contract is being signed and catch them red-handed."

Tian Nina thought it over. "It should work, but who's going to pretend to be the big fish?"

"I will."

Lin Qiye stepped aside, revealing Li Xiongye in a suit and leather shoes.

A girl immediately praised him, "Uncle's got real style. He's absolutely perfect for it."

And honestly, Li Xiongye naturally carried an air of wealth and status. He did not even need to act.

That made the group of girls even more interested, and they wanted to know exactly what to do.

First of all, of course, they had to let the scammers know a big fish had taken the bait.

For example:

Their scam advertisement would be clicked, and the scammer on the line would learn from Li Xiongye's chat messages that this man was very rich.

That alone would not be enough to make them believe it. They would definitely send someone to investigate.

Once they finished investigating, they would surely draw up a new scam plan. During that period, Li Xiongye would pretend to regret it and back out, luring the scammers into speeding up their operation.

Under that kind of inducement, the scammers probably would not have much vigilance left. Then, when the contract was being signed, they would close the net, call the police, and wipe them all out.

After finishing the plan, his mouth dry, Lin Qiye took the bottle of mineral water Tian Nina handed him and waited for everyone's feedback.

Li Xiongye's eyes shone. "Little Lin, this feels like acting in a blockbuster. Interesting."

"What about us?" the group of girls said in unison.

Tian Nina cut in, "Of course there are things to do. Now that we have the scammers' address, we need people to monitor them and feed back the situation on site. Also, to prevent any accidents, we need a protection team."

So they needed a lot of people to take part.

Because of a few scammers, things were developing in an unpredictable direction. Lin Qiye felt it had already broken away from what he had originally imagined.

But it was changing in a good direction. There were just more people involved.

On campus, there was no such thing as a wall that did not leak air, especially when a group of girls swore up and down that they would keep something secret.

Energetic, curious college students who were willing to try and challenge things learned about it through secret word-of-mouth channels, then headed to the agreed place.

The destination was Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens Internet Cafe. These college students packed the entire Internet cafe full, yet none of them went online. They all looked toward the office in the west corner of the cafe.

Inside the office, many people were arguing. Lin Qiye and Tian Nina were surrounded, isolated and without help.

"Big Lin, we've played ball together for three years. You're not going to disown us brothers, are you?"

"Exactly. No matter what, you have to let us join today."

This was a group of basketball players, each of them tall guys over 1.8 meters, all in high spirits.

It was not only the basketball team. There were also sports clubs like the soccer team and the track and field team.

This was what Lin Qiye had to endure. On the other side, Tian Nina was not much better off. The group of girls were even more relentless.

They were about to collapse.

Tian Nina shot to her feet. "What are you all shouting for? It's not like we're going to war. Do we really need this many people to catch a few scammers?"

Her voice was loud enough to startle everyone, and they immediately quieted down.

Taking the opportunity, Lin Qiye immediately spoke up to smooth things over. "We can't act recklessly, right? We need an action plan first, then we can arrange personnel and try to catch the scammers before the National Day holiday. If everyone trusts me, give me thirty minutes. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Thirty minutes later, a complete civilian anti-fraud action plan was displayed before everyone. It covered personnel arrangements, the functions of subdivided teams, and coordination among the various departments. It looked very professional.

Tian Nina once again discovered the advantages of her unofficial boyfriend, Lin Qiye. He was actually so meticulous and even quite steady.

According to the plan:

The target individuals lived in Room 302, Unit 2, 15 Flower Lane.

There were five scammers in total, and Lin Qiye had even obtained their photos.

The photos of these people were hung on the office wall, and multiple copies were made and given to the people participating in on-site surveillance.

A landline telephone and a record book were used to gather all information about the operation.

Lin Qiye answered the phone, while Tian Nina kept the records.

Near Flower Lane in JB District, more than a dozen young men and women appeared in various positions.

Through their phones, they sent back the situations they discovered.

Farther away, a bunch of tall, powerful sports specialty students were slurping rice noodles.

They were the operation support team. If an accident occurred, they would rely on these sturdy young men with an average height of 1.8 meters to take action.

Soon, something happened. The watchers reported the situation to the temporary anti-fraud center, while also secretly communicating in the QQ group.

"Scam Target No. 3 left and went to a breakfast shop to buy breakfast for several people."

"Scam Target No. 3 was right next to me. I was so nervous my palms were sweating."

"Scam Target No. 3 went back. Alert canceled."

"Scam Target No. 5 is coming downstairs. Everyone, pay attention."

"Scam Target No. 5 got into a taxi and left."

"What do we do? We don't have a car to follow him."

"I'm Jiang Dabao. Wait for me to borrow a motorcycle."

"Scam Target No. 5 is back. He's carrying a plastic bag from Tianmao Supermarket. He went shopping again. These people sure have a lot of time on their hands."

After a round of on-site practice, everyone felt it had gone all right. It did not seem all that difficult.

The official operation began.

Lin Qiye logged into a newly registered QQ account, then entered a long URL into the browser and opened the scam advertisement page.

At the bottom of the advertisement page for buying iPhones at a low price, there was a button that said click to apply.

He clicked it, and it automatically redirected to a new page, where he added the QQ account as instructed.

Soon, the request was approved, and the other side sent over a smiling face.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

Lin Qiye moved aside, and Li Xiongye sat down.

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiongye decided not to use Lin Qiye's script, but to improvise instead.

He tapped on the keyboard and replied, "The iPhone 5 is this cheap? I just bought twenty units, and even the wholesale price was over four thousand."

A little while later, the other side replied:

"Hello. Taking our buyers' financial circumstances into consideration, we use an installment payment method so that every customer can purchase an iPhone 5."

The scammers made it sound grand and proper, all to lure their target into the trap.

Li Xiongye wanted to step into the trap, but the process had to be smooth. He could not make the other side suspicious.

Having fought his way through the business world for twenty years, he naturally knew the ropes.

"Don't try to fool me with that nonsense you use on kids. Installment payments charge interest; you're still the ones making money. I want to take a large quantity all at once. How much can you offer?"

Those words revealed two pieces of information: he had money, and he wanted to buy in bulk.

Lin Qiye was a little worried. "Isn't that too direct?"

Li Xiongye replied, "If the other side were really doing business, they'd definitely be suspicious. But they're scammers. Scammers don't care about that much. What they're thinking about is how to cheat money out of you. Just wait. In a while, they'll make up a new lie."

After a while, the other side replied.

"To be honest, we have connections with Apple's domestic general distributor. If you want goods, that can be arranged, and the price is negotiable, but the quantity has to be large before there's anything to discuss."

"They're baiting the hook," Li Xiongye said with a smile, and replied even more decisively. "I'm not interested in a dozen or twenty iPhones. If it's fewer than five hundred units, there's no need to talk."

Those words must have given the other side a huge shock, as if a fat sheep had thrown itself into their arms.

After another while, the other side replied.

"Five hundred iPhone 5s are no problem at all. We have even more inventory, but we must confirm that you truly have that level of strength."

They had taken the bait. Li Xiongye smiled. "Come to Tianming Mining and Trade Company. We'll discuss it in person."

"All right. We'll send someone over."

The online communication ended there, but in reality, things had only just begun.

A young man walked out of 15 Flower Lane, completely unaware that the young men and women inside and outside the lane were all quietly watching him.

From farther away, some even took out their phones to report:

"Scam Target No. 2 has appeared."

"Scam Target No. 2 got into a taxi."

Jiang Dabao got on the borrowed motorcycle and followed.

When the taxi stopped, he immediately reported:

"Scam Target No. 2 went to the trading company. Attention, Scam Target No. 2 is about to go in."

At that moment, Li Xiongye, who had already relocated to the trading company, was sitting upright in the office, with Lin Qiye beside him pretending to be his secretary.

A while later, the scammer, also dressed in a suit and leather shoes, came into the office. Looking at the luxurious decor inside, he could not help but freeze.

Then he came back to his senses. "Manager Li, this is our company's business license, as well as our proof of goods pickup. Please take a look."

Lin Qiye took the materials the scammer handed over. The photocopy of the business license was forged quite convincingly, but the Apple national general agent pickup slip looked a little fake.

It seemed these scammers were not professionals. They could only fool inexperienced college students.

After briefly looking over the materials, Li Xiongye asked, "As long as you have the goods, I'll take them all. Money isn't a problem, but the price..."

Scam Target No. 2 replied, "Three thousand five hundred per unit, but we must sign a contract, and you must pay one-third of the amount as a deposit."

At this point, the scammers' intentions were clear: they were after the advance payment.

Li Xiongye got deeply into character, a trace of greed appearing on his face as he asked, "Thirty-five hundred is that cheap? As long as you really have the goods, I'll sign the contract, but I have to see the goods before I pay the deposit."

Scam Target No. 2 was instantly delighted and hurriedly said, "Then tomorrow, we'll sign the contract on the twenty-third floor of Hongjing Building, then take you to the warehouse to inspect the goods."

And just like that, the scammers left with their dreams in tow.

Li Xiongye suddenly burst out laughing. "Their level is way too low. I spotted the problem at a glance. It took everything I had not to give myself away. And they even said the conference room on the twenty-third floor of Hongjing Building—that's my family's property. They really thought they were doing a good job pretending."

This was a matter of wealth level. The scammers simply had not reached that tier; their scam was based entirely on imagination, and it could never get past the discerning eyes of seasoned hands.

The thrill in Lin Qiye's heart faded as well. It was like expecting a three-hundred-round battle, only for the opponent to turn out to be trash.

What happened next was extremely simple. That gang of scammers racked their brains and not only rented a business conference room on the twenty-third floor of Hongjing Building, but also gathered a large number of Apple phone packaging boxes from the market. Then they went to the phone market and bought a huge pile of plastic dummy toy phones to put in the boxes, stacking them in a temporarily rented warehouse.

What they did not know was that every scene had been secretly filmed by a group of university students.

Right at the contract-signing ceremony, Li Xiongye called the police in advance, and a group of officers launched a surprise arrest of the scammers.

This time, they were truly caught red-handed.

Not only were their fraudulent contracts at the scene, there was also video footage recording the entire scam process.

After searching their hideout, the police found a large amount of additional evidence of fraud. This gang had relied on fake online advertisements to lure youngsters looking for bargains into their trap, then forced them to repay high-interest loans. The number of people scammed had reached double digits.

At this point, the scammers had fallen into the net of the law. What awaited them would be legal punishment and civil claims from a large number of victim-plaintiffs.

The scammers were arrested, and the stock market hit the daily limit up for two consecutive days. It could be called a double harvest.

Li Xiongye once again lamented that he had bought too little, but Lin Qiye sold off his entire position.

That made Li Xiongye nervous. "What's your hurry? Didn't it hit the limit up? There's no sign of selling off either."

"The National Day holiday lasts several days. There are too many uncertainties. I've cleared out my personal account and locked in the gains, and my investment advice for the company is the same. Do as you see fit."

With that, Lin Qiye left in carefree fashion.

Outside the Internet Cafe, Tian Nina was waiting. The moment they met, she asked, "When are your parents arriving?"

"Probably this afternoon. No rush to go to the train station yet."

"Then what are we doing now?"

"Have you finished your cultural creative entry for the competition?"