China Behind One of the World's ‘Largest Online Scams’ | China in Focus

Welcome to NTV's China In Focus. I'm Dan Ma. In for Tiffany Meyer, our top story. Could clicking add to cart or buy now send personal information into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party? Besides social media app TikTok or e-commerce platform Timu, one of the world's largest scam campaigns is reportedly operated by Chinese hackers, and American shoppers are the target. More from a top UK consumer protection agency. China's job market struggling to stay afloat. Residents in a major Chinese manufacturing hub tell NTD what real life for job seekers looks like in today's China. And the UK announcing plans to beef up defense. More on why its prime minister says it's the most dangerous time for his country since the Cold War. There are more people being laid off, Fake shopping websites, promising deals too good to be true. A recent report shows that over 800,000 people in the US and Europe have become victims of these fraud campaigns. One of the largest of its kind is reportedly backed by a vast network of Chinese hackers. Beyond money loss, an analyst warns that customers' personal information could be A top UK consumer protection organization, the CTSI, reports that the online scam campaign is one of the largest in the world, comprising 76,000 fake websites operating simultaneously. And the operators behind the campaign are reportedly Chinese. Media agencies, including The Guardian, found that the fraud effort has three features, is highly organized, tech savvy, and still going on today. Here's how the scammers get the game going. First, they post fake listings that promise sales or discount pricings for famous name brands' products, including Dior, Prada, Hugo Boss, and Nike. The websites are also published in at least six languages, English, Spanish, and Italian among them. All that in efforts to get shoppers to click at the card and place order. But after handing over banking details, most victims say they never receive any physical items. Instead, the scammers simply harvest confidential information like credit or debit card information and personal data. According to the report, more than one million of these fraud cases have been reported in the past three years alone, while records show the first case appeared back in 2015. A global cybersecurity advisor warns it is reasonable to suspect Beijing may have access to the stolen data via the scam campaign. We've been reporting about big Wall Street firms steering billions of dollars of American retirement money into blacklisted Chinese companies. Next, we're following up on the story and diving in deeper. We welcome Art Alley, founder and president of investment firm Timothy Plan, for more. Art, thank you very much for your time today, this afternoon. So, first question I have for you is, we're seeing that according to reports, apparently Wall Street companies are steering billions of dollars into Chinese companies and blacklisted ones, in fact. And I know your position as well from where you stand at your company. Tell us, tell us how you feel about that Wall Street companies giving so much money to these Chinese companies. Well, so far, we still live in a free country if they want to do that. But I mean, it's a really bad idea. You know, when we launched Timothy Plan, my friends on Wall Street said, Alley, you are nuts. I said, what do you mean? They said, you cannot create an investment program that screens out the largest, most profitable companies in the industry and expect to get good investment returns. And my response hasn't changed. That was 30 years ago. My response was simply, look, if you have basic moral values, following them beats performance every single time. And I think these, to answer your question, the Wall Street companies, the investment companies, companies like BlackRock, I mean, my goodness, they have $10 trillion. They put the clamps on US companies by demanding good ESG scores and all the other things that's not good for profitability. But they don't impose those same restrictions on Chinese companies. As for Timothy, you know, when we first launched, I made the decision for our company, we would not invest in any companies in China that are owned by the government. But they do have privately owned companies. And then, you know, after a while, it kind of occurred to me, look, if you're in China, that communist government runs everything. So even if it's privately held, they exert influence. So we will not invest in any company in China. Right. Okay. So, I mean, you touched on this, why you don't want to invest in Chinese companies that are state owned. But if you wouldn't mind elaborating for us a bit more with some examples and more detail as to exactly why that is for you. Well, you know, China, and it's becoming increasingly clear to everybody in this country, unless their head is in the sand, China is not our friend. China is trying to replace us as the leader of the world. And China is a communist country that is abusive and human rights and all the rest. It is just so contrary to who we are with our freedoms and our values, which seem to be eroding, by the way, in America, that it just makes no sense to invest in companies that really want to kind of destroy communism is it never worked, it can't work, it cannot last. Because everybody becomes equally poor, with a very handful of people at the top that kind of have all the benefits of life. So, I don't know if that answered your question, Don, but we will not invest in any company based in China, period. Yeah, it's very clear. It seems like you don't want to invest in a country that could potentially undermine the country that we live in the United States. But I also want to ask you, besides that reason, do you see any risk at all to investors when it comes to investing in China? Well, there's risk in whatever you invest in. I mean, things go up, things go down. At one time, China was one of the poorest countries in the world. And they have risen up. But now there are a lot of what appears to be earthquake breaks in their economic system. They're not in real good shape. I mean, China went out and built cities, humongous cities all over their country that are years ago, that are now just rotting and nobody's living in them. Communism is not a good economic model. It never has been. It never will be. So, sooner or later, China is going to collapse. Fascinating discussion. I wish we had more time, but that's all the time we have for today. We can continue maybe next time. Thank you very much for your coming on the show today. Thanks, Don. I look forward to it. Now, an exclusive scoop on China's economy amid a lasting financial downturn. Many Chinese people are struggling with job security or even face long-term unemployment. Beyond corporate employees, farmers are also echoing their experiences amid China's economic hardships. Let's take a closer look. John works at a factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. Close to Hong Kong, the city is a special economic zone. Now it seems to be losing strength amid economic woes in the country. To protect his identity, we only used Factories are becoming fewer and fewer. It's common to see factories closing down and large factories relocating. The economy is definitely not doing well. There are more people being laid off, and it's hard to find permanent jobs. Another resident in Shenzhen echoes John's struggles. He told us that it's getting increasingly difficult for undergraduates to find work. For companies that aren't state-owned, doing business has become extremely difficult. There's widespread closure of stores and many spaces available for rent. Even the state media now basically echo this sentiment. Let's tighten our belts and just survive. Every industry is severely struggling. Last June, Beijing suspended reporting the youth unemployment rate after it exceeded 20%. Worth noting, China is known for underreporting or covering up unfavorable data to protect its reputation. China economist Frank Xie believes the real figure could be much higher, and may surpass 40%. Because of it, China economists are casting doubt. Back to the nationwide economic situation, a resident from the Inner Mongolia region said people's lives there have become difficult. Now, there's almost no one left in the village. They've all gone out to work. But it's hard to find work. The job market is tough, and the unemployment rate is too high. Some people are begging, shouting on the streets because they have no money. We'll keep you updated on China's economy as the situation develops. A new blow to China's declining property market. A private survey revealed a slump in home sales during the major May Day public holiday. According to China Index Academy, average daily home sales slipped 47% from a year earlier. Sales are down about 30% from pre-pandemic levels. Researchers found sales fell in 19 out of 22 surveyed cities. It was a big drop for big cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, down more than 60%. Chinese authorities have tried to prop the troubled sector with various measures, but analysts say many of the policies are piecemeal or have limited impact. The UK's prime minister pledging to double down on defense spending and warning that the country is living in the most dangerous time since the Cold War. An axis of authoritarian states, Iran, Russia, North Korea, China, acting in an assertive way that is threatening our values, threatening our interests abroad and at home in a more interconnected world. China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are growing closer. The White House is weighing new sanctions on Russia as Moscow ships petroleum to North Korea at levels that appear to violate the United Nations mandate. Also, a Russian ship suspected of transporting ammunition from North Korea to Russia has been anchored at a Chinese port since February. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that Beijing was the reason that Russia had been producing weapons faster than at any other point in its modern history. How has it been able to do that? Because it's getting massive inputs of machine tools, microelectronics, optics, mostly coming from China. 70% of the machine tools, 90% of the microelectronics are coming from China. Now, these are dual-use items. Beijing also stopped short of condemning Iran after it fired hundreds of missiles toward Israel this April. The first Chinese journalist jailed for exposing Beijing's COVID-19 cover-up is getting her freedom Monday. Her scheduled release comes after spending four years in prison. After the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, citizen journalist Zhang Zhang started sharing videos online in 2020. Her clips shed light on the situation in Wuhan, China, ground zero of the pandemic. Her first-hand accounts captured crowded hospitals, while her interviews with locals painted a dire picture in the city. But Beijing's communist regime was working hard to preserve its global reputation and clamped down on citizen journalism. Zhang was also given a four-year prison term for exposing the situation. Fast forward to today, human rights groups have called on the Chinese regime to free her on schedule. A member of the Free Zhang Zhang campaign said the group did not have confirmation she had been released as of early Monday. Right now, no one can get in touch with her or her family. Based on the Chinese regime's standard practice, she will be put under house arrest after release. That's all for today's China In Focus on YouTube. We're now sharing a shortened version of our program here after being demonetized for three years. If you would like to support us, consider donating. Find us at donorbox.org slash china dash in dash focus. Or subscribe to our partner platform, Epoch TV, where you can watch our full episodes. Just click the link down below. Here's what to look out for in our second half. A Chinese student in New York is voicing her fears for her father's safety back in China. She says he's been taken by police again because he practices a spiritual meditation system called Falun Gong. Guangjie Han tells us what life looks like in constant fear that a loved one could be arrested. More details after the break, here on China In Focus. Thanks for watching China In Focus. I'm Don Ma, and for Tiffany Meyer, see you soon.