Hubei police in China cracked a Tether scam involving domestic “riders” helping scammers transfer funds

Mars Finance News, on May 26, according to Hubei Cyber Police, in January this year, a resident of Shenglitown named Xiao Li (pseudonym) met a self-proclaimed active military serviceman named "Wang" on a social platform. This articulate "soldier brother" lured Xiao Li to an encrypted chat software under the pretext of strict military discipline. During daily small talks, "Wang" gradually cast his bait - claiming to have insider investment channels at a financial company and thoughtfully offering to operate on her behalf. Seeing the account screenshots sent by "Wang" with numbers rolling from 100,000 to 300,000, Xiao Li was finally moved. Little did she know that this seemingly professional investment platform was actually a virtual program controlled by fraudsters, and the so-called returns were merely numbers arbitrarily modified in the backend. When Xiao Li started "recharging" the platform, a more covert criminal chain began to operate. The fraud gang dispatched multiple "riders" to collect cash offline. These casually dressed cash collectors appeared like ghosts at the agreed locations. After counting the bills, they would immediately convert the cash into virtual currency, completing a key step in "laundering" the stolen funds. On March 28, after the last 30,000 yuan was withdrawn, the "military officer boyfriend" suddenly went offline. A shocked Xiao Li hurriedly reported to the police, by which time she had already transferred tens of thousands of hard-earned yuan. After receiving the alarm, the Criminal Investigation Team of Luotian County Public Security Bureau quickly formed a special task force for "dual-track tracking". Through fund flow analysis and technical investigation, police discovered that this criminal gang showed typical characteristics of "overseas command, domestic implementation". The so-called "military officer boyfriend" was actually an overseas fraudster, while the active "riders" in China were a money laundering gang helping to transfer funds. According to the suspects' confession, the gang received instructions through overseas chat software and conducted offline transactions with victims after each assignment. After collecting cash, they purchased USDT at below-market prices and transferred it to the "upstream" wallet, utilizing the anonymity of virtual currency to evade supervision. To avoid investigation, they often wore masks and hats during withdrawals and frequently changed transportation. "These 'riders' can earn 3%-5% commission each time, and their greed turns them into criminal accomplices," the investigating officer revealed. Currently, the police have recovered 130,000 yuan in losses for the victim, frozen suspicious funds of 300,000 yuan, and taken four criminal suspects into criminal custody, with the case still under further investigation. The police stated that USDT, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, is a crypto virtual currency that has become fraudsters' most "favored" money laundering medium due to its anonymous and convenient trading characteristics.