A deceived mom retrieved hard-earned money that had been tricked from her, thanks to the diligence of a policeman who uncovered a scam playing on the emotions of the worried parent. 

Meng's message exchanges with her "daughter." / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

On Tuesday afternoon, Mrs. Meng, an anxious mom aged around 40 from southwest China’s Chengdu, Sichuan Province turned to policeman She Hongning to look for her daughter, who was studying at college. Meng said she received a message from her daughter, claiming that her phone was lost and that she needed to talk to Meng about a top institution’s training session. The message, supposedly from a friend’s phone, included a request for Meng to transfer 19,800 yuan (2,900 US dollars) to “academic director Li” for registration.

Meng's transaction voucher. / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

She Hongning told media that Meng had transferred 7,000 yuan (1,018 US dollars) to the account “her daughter” provided before contacting the police. Meng arranged to meet with her daughter, only to find another message: “I can’t leave campus. You can go back and get enough money. Send the rest by tomorrow morning.”

Meng's message exchanges with her "daughter." / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

Meng's message exchanges with her "daughter." / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

Meng's message exchanges with her "daughter." / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

Meng's message exchanges with her "daughter." / Photo via Weibo @PinganChengdu

She Hongning found the request suspicious and called the involved bank immediately to cancel the 7,000 yuan transaction. He then helped Meng reach her daughter, who – safe and sound – reassured Meng and urged her to be cautious about telecom fraud.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, 83,000 cases of telecom fraud cases were cracked in 2016, up 49.6 percent from the previous year.

The ministry also launched a special operation on May 1 to focus on battling new types of crimes including telecom scams and sales of guns online.

(With input from Paper)