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Chinese Criminals Made More Than $1 Billion From Those Annoying Texts
Wall Street Journal MSN News ^ | 9/14/2026 | Robert McMillan

Posted on 10/15/2025 3:49:37 AM PDT by marcusmaximus

The U.S. is awash with scam text messages. Officials say it has become a billion-dollar, highly sophisticated business benefiting criminals in China.

Your highway toll payment is now past due, one text warns. You have U.S. Postal Service fees to pay, another threatens. You owe the New York City Department of Finance for unpaid traffic violations.

The texts are ploys to get unsuspecting victims to fork over their credit-card details. The gangs behind the scams take advantage of this information to buy iPhones, gift cards, clothing and cosmetics.

Criminal organizations operating out of China, which investigators blame for the toll and postage messages, have used them to make more than $1 billion over the last three years, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Behind the con, investigators say, is a black market connecting foreign criminal networks to server farms that blast scam texts to victims. The scammers use phishing websites to collect credit-card information. They then find gig workers in the U.S. who will max out the stolen cards for a small fee.

Making the fraud possible: an ingenious trick allowing criminals to install stolen card numbers in Google and Apple Wallets in Asia, then share the cards with the people in the U.S. making purchases half a world away.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: brics; chicoms; china; chinavirus; crime; fraud; india; modi; scammers; xi

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1 posted on 10/15/2025 3:49:37 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus
Kk9pCUg.md.png
2 posted on 10/15/2025 3:51:43 AM PDT by Right_Wing_Madman
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

China hoes mad.


3 posted on 10/15/2025 3:52:13 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

Are you harassing the OP?


4 posted on 10/15/2025 4:08:12 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: subterfuge
Are you harassing the OP?

Yes, you're right, that is unfair. The OP has never harassed anyone. Doink!

5 posted on 10/15/2025 4:12:03 AM PDT by Right_Wing_Madman
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

Why are you harrassing the OP? Don’t be such a pussy. State your problem.


6 posted on 10/15/2025 4:27:27 AM PDT by subterfuge (I'm a pure-blood!)
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To: marcusmaximus

What happened? Which of your Zeeper funding sources dried up?


7 posted on 10/15/2025 4:42:51 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: marcusmaximus

Whenever I get one of these phishing texts, I reply with something vulgar not printable here.


8 posted on 10/15/2025 4:45:50 AM PDT by red-dawg
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To: red-dawg

I delete and report.


9 posted on 10/15/2025 4:47:11 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus

Why are Americans so gullible?


10 posted on 10/15/2025 5:10:43 AM PDT by Wilderness Conservative (Nature is the ultimate conservative)
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

There are rules against both cross-posting and harassment. Knock it off.


11 posted on 10/15/2025 5:50:00 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Wilderness Conservative

I think people treat their phones like a lifeline from God. I ignore email and text financial crap like that. These must come in by surface mail on company forms.


12 posted on 10/15/2025 5:53:18 AM PDT by GingisK
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To: Wilderness Conservative

It might be a little more than gullibility. It it also laziness. With all the normal bureaucratic hurdles people have to jump through lately to just get on with their lives, this might seem like just another hassle to get through as quickly as possible before it becomes something larger and more difficult to navigate.
“I will pay this now so I don’t have to worry about a larger fee laden bill down the road” or “I will pay this because there was that one time I could not register my car over a tax I though I paid”

But you are right, people need to think before they blindly pay some scam artist.


13 posted on 10/15/2025 7:36:59 AM PDT by penguinhunter
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To: Right_Wing_Madman

14 posted on 10/15/2025 7:49:27 AM PDT by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: marcusmaximus

Heck, Congressmen made even more!


15 posted on 10/15/2025 7:55:32 AM PDT by If You Want It Fixed - Fix It
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To: marcusmaximus

They must have busted the car warranty scams. I would get 50 calls a day.


16 posted on 10/15/2025 9:37:01 AM PDT by Organic Panic ('Was I molested. I think so' - Ashley Biden in response to her father joining her in the shower.)
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To: marcusmaximus

I got texts claiming to be from NY State for thruway tolls I knew had been paid because I have EZ Pass. I blocked them, reported them as Junk, and deleted them.


17 posted on 10/15/2025 11:59:04 AM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: marcusmaximus

Anyone who is stupid enough to respond to those texts gets what they deserve.


18 posted on 10/15/2025 12:00:07 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: Wilderness Conservative
"Why are Americans so gullible?"

The ones who vote Democrat definitely are.

19 posted on 10/15/2025 12:00:36 PM PDT by mass55th (“Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ― John Wayne)
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To: marcusmaximus

Where there is two or more of ccp mainland chinese gathered together there is theft and graft..........

It’s ingrained in their minds, their bodies, culturally, intellectually and by government decree.

To be absolutely frank it only takes one of them....

They believe if you ain’t lying, you ain’t trying!....


20 posted on 10/15/2025 12:05:38 PM PDT by BFW
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