NEARLY 50 suspects went on trial at Longhua District People’s Court over two telecom scams in which nearly 12,000 victims were defrauded out of more than 4.5 million yuan (US$661,765), Chinese-language media reported Tuesday.

The suspects were accused of scamming victims by disguising themselves as beautiful saleswomen. They released false information about cheap products, including tea and paintings they bought from tea markets and galleries, on the WeChat platform. They allegedly cajoled male victims on WeChat into buying these products at inflated prices, the prosecutors told the court during the weeklong public hearing.

Two of the suspects, surnamed Hua and Chen, were the major defendants in the hearing. They allegedly recruited new members through established companies to form criminal gangs and provided them with training on communication skill to help the “salespeople” sell the products and deal with the victims when they asked for a meeting.

After the victims paid for the products on WeChat, the “salespeople” would arrange a delivery and continue to swindle them based on varying situations. When a victim no longer believed the salespeople’s stories, they would delete the victim from their contact lists and turn to new targets.

About 100 people attended the hearing, and the two cases were still under investigation, according to the report. (Wang Jingli)