# Who's gotten the Chinese scam calls? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 3, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443 "2019-05-03T21:36:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/21 "2019-05-04T07:22:29Z")
I’m in Taiwan. It’s not me. Really. I swear. I don’t know anything about it. I’m not guilty. Nope. Not at all. More seriously, all the scams here are in Chinese, but they are different ones. I’m just surprised to hear how extensive it is. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/22 "2019-05-04T12:05:45Z")
I’ve gotten an average of one call a week for the last 4 months. I had no idea it was a widespread thing. Living in Toronto, with a large Chinese population, I just assumed it was some sort of wrong number. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/23 "2019-05-04T12:35:31Z")
Almost makes me want to listen to my voicemail. All my calls (98% spam) goes to voicemail, and I read the messages prior to deleting (voice to text works pretty well). Maybe the “unable to transcribe” messages that I just delete are in Chinese. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/24 "2019-05-04T12:39:00Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > I’ve received some weird voicemails with a woman speaking what I assume is a Chinese language. The audio is always very poor, like a tape recording of a recording of a recording. I can’t understand what she’s saying but it seems like the message doesn’t start from the beginning and might be a loop. Chicago. This exactly for me in 2017. That summer I was recieving a couple of calls a week exactly like this except that it sounded like a romance language. I’ve only every recieved one call last summer that was in an Asian language I always seem to get the scam calls mainly during the warmer time of year ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/25 "2019-05-04T14:41:25Z")
Wow - this is a lot older and more widespread than I’d imagined! And honestly what ticks me off most, I’ve got a pay-as-you-go cell plan and it costs me a dime every time I check my voice mail! Could it be that AT&T is owned by the Chinese?!?!? :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/26 "2019-05-04T15:33:45Z")
I get them sporadically. It is about the only scam I get on my cell. If they call my landline, NoMoRobo blocks it. I’m in the Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/27 "2019-05-04T15:57:16Z")
I got one such call on a landline that, since we’ve moved from our old residence, no longer exists. Now that I’m a cell-only guy, I immediately delete unknown-number calls without answering them, so the Chinese scammers may be trying to reach me without my knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/28 "2019-05-04T16:05:29Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > In Chicago, these came to my workphone I’ve had two on mine as well. First one confused the hell out of me, I prompting me to find that article, or one very similar. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/29 "2019-05-04T18:05:03Z")
It’s not just in the US. I’m getting them in Canada (Ontario). ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/30 "2019-05-04T19:09:09Z")
I highly recommend Hiya. I’ve been using it for the past year and it’s really reduced my spam calls. It’s free (though with ads) and provides caller ID (though that means almost nothing now with call spoofing) and easy blocking of numbers and VMs. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/31 "2019-05-04T19:32:47Z")
Probably up to three of them now. Two on my cell, one on a landline. Not knowing what it was( but assuming a scam )I saved one for my Mandarin-speaking sister-in-law to translate for me. Guess I needn’t bother now that I know what it is. Fairly nasty scam as scams go. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/32 "2019-05-04T20:07:52Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > In the last week or so, I’ve had several voicemails that are apparently part of the [Chinese phone scam ring](https://www.pcmag.com/news/367491/chinese-embassy-robocall-scam-rakes-in-40m-from-victims). My husband has also gotten several, but our daughter hasn’t… yet, I suppose. We’re all in Maryland, but we have 3 different area codes among our phones. > > So, if you’ve gotten one (or more) of these calls, chime in and share your location, if you don’t mind. I call bullshit on the article. Average loss of $164,000 dollars, no way. If that was in Chinese Yuan that would still have been $24,000 US dollars. I had one of those calls recently. It was in VM because I don’t answer unknown numbers. I’m in Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/33 "2019-05-04T20:51:34Z")
Yep, got one in AZ. Didn’t know what it was, as I don’t speak Chinese. (the text translation was…interesting.) At least now I know. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/34 "2019-05-05T13:34:54Z")
I’ve gotten them on my cell and home phone, and I get almost no spam calls on my home phone. One day, I got it twice in about 5 minutes on the home phone. Both numbers are NJ area codes. Speaking of spam calls, I had some people over for dinner and got a call from Serbia. I declined the call. Then, two more people at my house got calls from Serbia during the evening. Weird. Must have been targeting NJ numbers. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/35 "2019-05-05T15:17:36Z")
I usually don’t pick up my cellphone for unknown numbers, but once one of them got through to voicemail. I got my wife to translate and she confirmed it was the “embassy” calling. (Toronto) ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/36 "2019-05-05T17:02:12Z")
I’ve gotten a few. I just assumed they were wanting to buy my dog. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/37 "2019-05-05T18:00:26Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > I’ve gotten a few. I just assumed they were wanting to buy my dog. 😉 Better than the calls I get from an angry Chinese spammer: “I burning your dog!” ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/38 "2019-05-05T18:09:53Z")
I get them occasionally, on my cell phone in Hawaii. I never answer but I know what they are because I Google the numbers. The last one was spoofing a Chinese consulate somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/39 "2019-05-05T18:40:26Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > I’ve gotten a few. Always on my cell phone. There may have been calls to my land line, but I never answer that phone (it exists only so my wife can call her parents back home – most of the time, the ringer isn’t even on). > > I live in New York City. Yeah, about one or two a month on my cell. I thought it was just that my old 408 # was close to a number the consulate really wanted to call. Then after a bit i figured must be some sort of scam. Yep- scam. ---
**Author:** ![glaucon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@glaucon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaucon)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2019, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443/40 "2019-05-06T04:49:38Z")
\> chime in and share your location We have been getting them in New Zealand for at least a year, reasonably wide-spread across the country. Same blurb about “This is the Chinese Embassy …” or so I understand, I don’t speak Mandarin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-gotten-the-chinese-scam-calls/833443.md?page=3)