For the past few days, the good news has been everywhere. Xinhua reported that a three-part documentary on the collapse of the scam operations in northern Myanmar, co-produced by the Ministry of Public Security and China Media Group, aired from October 5 to 7. It detailed the arrest and extradition of several ringleaders of fraud groups in northern Myanmar and Myawaddy. The topic climbed into the top ranks on Toutiao, Zhihu and other platforms.
Once you have watched the news and shared it, there is a more practical matter left. The crackdown has not closed the anti-fraud class. Past cases show a pattern: when a big operation wraps up and the coverage goes wall to wall, someone starts calling people who have already been defrauded, posing as a “task force” or a “lawyer handling asset recovery.” This piece walks through the new scripts, and it is worth dropping into the family group chat.
1. Why scammers get busier after a crackdown
Two reasons, both tied to the coverage.
The first is that the vocabulary is free. “Task force operation,” “recovered assets”—these phrases turn up in the news every day, so a fraudster can dress up as a “task force staffer” or a “lawyer responsible for returning funds” without inventing a plot, and sound convincing. You just saw the same words on television. The match does part of the work.
The second is that data keeps moving. People who reported a case years ago, or were scammed on some platform, may have had their details resold. Who was defrauded, on which platform, roughly how much—a caller can get most of it right on the first sentence, which is devastating for an older person desperate to recover a loss. It is also why the opening lines of so many second-round scams sound eerily precise. The scammer is not omniscient. The information was sold. Those old records don’t pick their targets; the fraudster picks whoever is anxious.
Hong Kong’s Cyber Security Incident Response Coordination Centre (HKCERT) has issued specific warnings about “recovery scams.” Jiefang Daily reported in June 2025 that a person who went online looking for a “hacker” to get money back ended up losing another 69,800 yuan. Older people who have been defrauded once fear one thing above all: that the money is gone for good. Hearing “we have an inside channel,” their first reaction is often not suspicion but relief, as if grabbing a rope. The new scripts aim at exactly that urgency. The fraudster’s reasoning is simple: the moment you most want your money back is the moment you are easiest to cheat.
2. Three scripts you can spot on the first line
Script one: “Refund of recovered assets.”
“Your case has been closed in our operation. Part of the money has been recovered. Give me your bank card number and pay a 2,000 yuan handling fee to activate the refund channel.”
An older person hears “case closed, money coming back,” and everything they lost and swallowed floods up. This is the hardest moment to get through, and the most dangerous.
A genuine asset return is handled by the case-handling authority under legal procedure. It never requires you to pay a fee first.
Script two: “We recover defrauded funds for you.”
“We have inside channels. We specialize in getting money back from scams. You pay only after we recover it.”
Sounds like work first, payment later? Partway through, a “deposit,” a “notarization fee” and an “unfreezing fee” appear, one after another. A police reply published on the Wuhan municipal government website is blunt: after a fraud, call 110 or 96110 immediately to stop the payment and report it; asset recovery is carried out by public security organs according to law. There is no private “recovery channel.”
Script three: “We’ll appeal to unfreeze your account.”
“I’m a cyber police officer (or a lawyer). Your account has been frozen. Pay the unfreezing fee and it opens immediately.”
If an account really is frozen, you are notified through legal procedure and can verify directly with your bank or the case-handling unit. No stranger on the phone gets to rescue you. If you are unsure, call your bank’s official customer service line or walk into a branch and ask. It takes a minute.
All three share one more feature: in past cases they tend to surface right when a major operation is in the headlines. Real case updates are notified to the parties through legal procedure. They do not arrive just after you finish reading the news, with pressure to pay on the spot. If the timing doesn’t fit, be suspicious.
The three scripts end at the same line: public security organs charge nothing to handle a case and will never return money to you privately over the phone. Anyone who says pay first, get refunded later, should be hung up on.
What if your parents already took the call, or even paid? Don’t blame them. Do three things: write down the caller’s number and the receiving account; save the transfer receipt; call 110 immediately, say it is a second-round fraud, and ask for an emergency payment stop. And tell them this: being defrauded is not shameful, and being defrauded twice is not their fault. Only by speaking up can the third payment be stopped.
3. Four scam types that catch older people (with what to say)
Slot the new scripts into the bigger picture and walk your parents through it.
Type 1: the second-round scam after a crackdown. The three scripts above. Keywords to listen for: recovered assets, loss recovery, unfreezing.
What to say: “A refund never starts with a payment. Which unit are you from? I’ll call 110 and check.” Then actually call 110.
Type 2: impersonating police, prosecutors or courts. “You’re suspected of money laundering.” “There are drugs in your parcel.” “There’s a problem with your passport.” Then a fake arrest warrant arrives, and you are told to move your money into a “safe account.” This is one of the ten most common telecom and online fraud types published by the Ministry of Public Security.
What to say: “Police, prosecutors and courts do not handle cases by phone, and there is no safe account.” Hang up and call 110.
Type 3: the health and wellness trap. Free eggs, expert consultations, “miracle” remedies. At a Ministry of Public Security press conference on June 12, 2026, officials reported that Beijing police had broken up a health fraud ring that targeted older people: more than 400 elderly victims, 31 suspects detained.
What to say: “Anything that calls ordinary food a cure is fake.” Walk away.
Type 4: impersonating someone you know. “Guess who I am” has grown into “I’m your boss” or “I’m your grandson.” The tone is urgent, and the demand for money more urgent still. Officials flag this as a high-frequency type too.
What to say: hang up first, then call back on the number saved in your contacts.
4. Three numbers and one law to go over with your parents
- 110: call the moment you realize you have been defrauded. It can trigger an emergency payment stop, and the sooner it happens, the better the chance of holding the money.
- 96110: the anti-fraud warning and dissuasion line, launched on November 8, 2019. Always answer it. If it calls, it is usually warning you or a family member that a scam is underway.
- 12381: the anti-fraud warning text service, launched on July 14, 2021. Don’t delete the messages as spam.
- Warning and dissuasion, emergency payment stops, and real-name management of phone cards and bank cards are all written into the Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law, in force since December 1, 2022.
Ten minutes spent going over these three numbers with your parents does more than any cleanup afterward.
5. Three misunderstandings, cleared up
“A case that big is far from my family.” Upgraded scripts go after people whose details match. A large audience for the news does not mean few victims, and it does not mean the next one won’t be someone at home.
“If the money can’t be recovered, reporting is pointless.” The opposite holds. The earlier you report, the better the chance an emergency stop catches the funds. Every day of delay makes it harder.
“Anyone who knows my details must be official.” Someone who can recite your name, phone number or even your past fraud case may simply have bought leaked data. There is one way to verify identity: hang up and dial 110 or 96110 yourself.
6. Four signs to treat as fraud, outright
- You are told to transfer money to a “safe account.”
- You are asked to install screen-sharing software, or to read out an SMS verification code.
- You are asked to pay a “handling fee,” “deposit” or “unfreezing fee” up front.
- You are told not to tell your family, or not to tell the bank.
A crackdown is good news. Fraud prevention is a long game. Tell us in the comments: which kind of call have you or your family received, and how did you spot it? Your experience may help the next reader. If this is useful, send it to your parents and the family group chat. That does more good than forwarding the news itself.
This article is anti-fraud guidance. Cases and figures are retold from public reports including Xinhua, Ministry of Public Security briefings and Jiefang Daily. Case-handling procedures follow public security regulations.