Her Cultivation Diary
Chapter 987 - 967. Telecom fraud

Chapter 987: 967. Telecom fraud

Speaking of this, Yu Yan couldn’t help but sigh:

"Yeah, that’s true. But Aunt, you can’t just blame young people. These days, telecom scams are all about exploiting psychological vulnerabilities; it’s impossible to guard against completely. It’s not really about being stupid or not."

"Huh?"

The elder aunt was confused: "What telecom scams?"

Isn’t that just something you see on apps like Douyin? People here in rural areas don’t even have much money; what’s there to worry about?

Wasn’t she just talking about Leilei running around aimlessly for a few years, getting a girlfriend, and ending up with nothing in the end?

But Song Tan, seeing Yu Yan’s sighing expression, couldn’t hold back her curiosity: "So, have there been a lot of telecom scam cases in the urban area this year?"

"Plenty."

Before Yu Yan could speak, the cameraman chimed in: "If you walk around any residential complex, you’ll see banners about fraud prevention everywhere. They can even name names, saying who lost how much money. It has nothing to do with being from the countryside or not; as long as you have money, you’re a target. Just the fraud cases our media outlet has covered involve significant amounts of money."

"A few days ago, we interviewed someone. They said our province had just cracked a major telecom scam case. It involved preying on men’s sympathy, vanity, and opportunistic tendencies. They’d pretend to be helpless housewives whose husbands cheated on them, and use this act to scam money from men."

When this came up, everyone perked up!

Even the elder aunt leaned in: "How could someone fall for that? Are there really idiots who’d send money to someone they haven’t even met face-to-face?"

"Of course!"

Yu Yan, having done in-depth interviews on the topic, had a subtle expression as he spoke:

"Operations like this are run by entire teams. One group identifies target victims, and another group uses the same scripts and voices to send audio messages, posing as someone chatting with them. Some even use beauty filters and dress up as women..."

Just imagine: after chatting online for a while, you’ve got this seemingly wealthy, beautiful housewife sitting helplessly on the edge of her bed at night, wearing sexy nightwear, shedding a few tears in just a few sentences, leaning on you emotionally, even acting like she’s willing to risk everything just to be with you...

Hiss!

Any man with bad intentions would find it hard to resist.

The small percentage who can resist? Well, most of them are held back by financial concerns.

"...These scams are tailored based on the target’s personality. For more cautious individuals, the scammers will find ways to get them to buy plane tickets—through fabricated ticket booking links, for example..."

"For men who are a little less cautious, more chauvinistic, and overly self-assured, they’ll heap on the flattery, acting completely dependent on them..."

In the end, while the scripts are standardized, the execution depends on the entire team.

And when an entire team is involved, the stakes are never small.

As Song Tan listened, she couldn’t shake a feeling of déjà vu—isn’t this exactly what happened to Qiaoqiao?

"But would they really put in all that effort just to scam a couple thousand yuan for airfare? If they’re going to put in so much work, why not do something else?"

"Impossible," Yu Yan chuckled:

"True feelings have always been the most convincing! If someone actually buys a ticket for them, they’ll pretend to be sincere, acting like they don’t want the man’s money and asking him to refund the ticket. Then, they’ll request him to click their ticket booking link..."

Once the link is clicked, within no time, the money in the account is siphoned away.

Song Tan: ...

Wow, she really underestimated these scammers last time!

Thrilling, absolutely thrilling!

Seeing everyone’s interest piqued, Yu Yan opened up even more: "Do you know who reported them?"

Who doesn’t want to know? Everyone’s eyes lit up, sparkling!

But...is that something they can talk about?

"Sure it is!" Yu Yan reassured them: "We won’t say what shouldn’t be said—the whistleblower is a girl from Shannan, just 20 years old!"

"She escaped from her family, pretending to have committed a crime to get caught. In reality, though, she’s incredibly brave!"

Yu Yan sighed deeply, clearly admiring her greatly.

"But why would a young woman like her run away from home? What’s going on?" the elder aunt asked urgently.

Yu Yan let out a long sigh: "Shannan is an impoverished area. Her older sister found a broker, got paid tens of thousands of yuan, and ended up marrying a 40-year-old man who’d been divorced twice already. She moved to the mountains to live with him."

"When it was her turn—she was still a good student at only 20 years old—her parents arranged another marriage for her, with a bride price of 180,000 yuan..."

The elder aunt gasped sharply: "What kind of lousy parents are those? Why shouldn’t she run away? She’s only 20! Who on earth is paying 180,000 yuan for a bride? That area’s poor, right? Anyone giving that much money surely has bad intentions!"

"She couldn’t run," Yu Yan sighed again. "She has younger siblings. If she left, her siblings would end up being used as collateral."

That area was infamous for its remote mountains and lack of transportation—leaving the village might mean walking for three days without even seeing a highway or a vehicle.

How could she escape?

"So instead, she pretended to commit a crime. Cross-regional law enforcement came and took her and two accomplice siblings into custody."

There were more details that Yu Yan didn’t find appropriate to share. The elder uncle nodded grimly: "This kind of stuff can’t be talked about outside. What if someone reports that girl for taking her two sisters along?"

Yu Yan shook his head: "You have to realize that these telecom fraud groups don’t just commit fraud. They’ve got plenty of cases where older sisters bring younger sisters along; there are too many to handle. It’s easier to control them that way."

The Shannan area, being near the national border, struggles with family planning. The poorer the family, the more kids they tend to have, three to five being the norm.

"...I’m just giving you all a heads-up to stay vigilant."

"In short, just listen and let it go. There’s no need to spread it around."

They murmured among themselves, but Song Tan couldn’t shake the familiarity—

Where had she heard something like this before?

With this question in mind, she headed back. As soon as she stepped into the yard, something clicked, and she immediately went to find Wu Lan:

"Mom, I remember you once mentioned in conversation that Old Zheng in the village has a wife from Shannan, right?"

Wu Lan was taken aback before recalling: "Oh, yeah, her name’s Yunyun. They got married two years ago; Old Zheng was 40 that year... Why?"

"Is she doing well?" Song Tan asked.

"What’s there to be unwell about?" Wu Lan replied nonchalantly: "Around here, there’s always enough to eat. Old Zheng gives her control over the money, which is way better than her days in Shannan."

"She can even earn her own money... On Douyin, with beauty filters, all dolled up, she has over 10,000 followers. She even sells things like snacks, duck necks, and cleaning balls through her shopping cart. She probably makes over 1,000 yuan a month."

"Why are you asking about her?" Wu Lan questioned curiously.

"Nothing," Song Tan said, pointing toward Yu Yan in the yard: "Reporter Yu mentioned knowing a girl from Shannan. I was curious if they might know each other."