Man Uses 4,600 Smartphones to Scam Thousands and Make Millions in Months
By
May 9, 2024
- Online fraud using thousands of phones lands Chinese man in jail
In China, a man found a new way to make lots of money. He used thousands of smartphones in Zhejiang province to boost the number of people watching online videos. This helped him earn 3 million yuan (around $415,000) in just a few months.
His job was to make sure online videos got lots of views. But the authorities found out about his scam. They arrested him and sent him to jail for 15 months. He also had to pay a fine of 50,000 yuan (about $7,000).
The man, named Wang, started this scam in 2022 after practicing how to do it. His scamming method is called “brushing,” which means faking activities online to get more attention.
Wang bought 4,600 smartphones and used special software to control them all from his computer. He said it cost him about 6.65 yuan (less than $1) per day to run each phone.
The authorities are investigating 17 other people for similar crimes. They’re accused of spreading fake information online to make money and disrupt the normal way things work.
