User blog:Timebomb192potato/WBOR 12 NewsCenter: Chinese Consulate scammers call 911 center

WBOR-TV News Report - October 15, 2019


 * EDWARD ST. JOHN (male voice; American accent): If you're a English speaker and you receive a Mandarin-language robocall, you'll be annoyed. If you're a Chinese speaker, you'll be scared since you think you're in trouble with the People's Republic of China consulate.
 * ELIZABETH BAËTA-QUANSAH (female voice; American accent): But last week here in Boston, the scammers ended up calling a 911 call center. A Chinese-speaking dispatcher ended up not letting the scammer get away with her money. WBOR 12 NewsCenter's Douglas McWhirter has the story.
 * DOUGLAS MCWHIRTER (male voice; Scottish accent; on-screen): The Boston Police say they have a message for phone scammers... they can't scam those who are on the lookout for them.
 * OPERATOR (male voice; Boston accent): 911, what's ya emergenceh?
 * AUTOMATED VOICE (female voice): *speaking Chinese*
 * OPERATOR: We gaht one of dem Chinese scam robo-calls! Mind gettin' Linda ovah here?
 * DOUGLAS: Boston Police say that a dispatcher from 911 at the Emergency Call Center received this call on the Monday of last week at around 9:30 in the morning. The recording told the dispatcher in Chinese that it was the Chinese Consulate and that he had an unclaimed document that would expire that day. Fortunately, the dispatcher wasn't alone, as he called over another dispatcher who happened to be bilingual, Linda Toh, to help him with the call.
 * SCAMMER (male voice; Chinese accent): 中国领事馆，我该如何帮助您？ (Chinese Consulate, How can I help you?)
 * LINDA TOH (female voice; speaking American-accented Chinese): 是的，我想谈谈这份即将到期的文件. (Yes, I'd like to talk about this document addressed to me that is about to expire.)
 * DOUGLAS: I spoke with Linda at the Boston Police headquarters.
 * DOUGLAS (interviewing Linda): What was it like to be called over to answer a scam robocall in your other tongue?
 * LINDA (speaking English with a mild Boston accent): It was very surprising that the scammers had called the Emergency Call Center! *laughs*
 * DOUGLAS: Linda took the bait, and talked to the scammer for over a minute. But when the scammer began threatening her with deportation if she didn't send the scammers money, she let them know who they were talking to.
 * LINDA (speaking Chinese): 好吧，我想告诉您，您一直在和美国波士顿警察局进行对话. (Well, I'd like to let you know that you've been talking to the Boston Police Department in the United States.)
 * SCAMMER: 对不起，什么？ (Sorry, what?)
 * LINDA (speaking Chinese): 您一直在和美国警察局谈话，我们是波士顿警察局. 另外，您正在通过录音线路通话， 我们知道这是一个骗局，而且讲英语的人一直在抱怨打来的电话，而您的中国同胞却被用辛苦赚来的钱骗走了. (You've been talking to an American police department, we are the Boston Police Department. Plus, you are talking over a recorded line, and we understand that this is a scam, and that English speakers have been complaining about these calls while your fellow Chinese are being conned out of hard-earned money.)
 * (scammer hangs up)
 * LINDA (speaking Chinese): 你好，你还在吗？ (Hello, are you still there?)
 * DOUGLAS: This recording is now making the rounds on the internet, and over various Massachusetts police departments' social media profiles. Linda has said that the call's recording is educating people.
 * LINDA (speaking English): This is our ultimate goal, it's to have the Chinese-speaking community work with us to rid the Boston area of as much crime as possible, and to remind people that the Chinese Consulate won't call you if there's an issue with immigration documents.
 * DOUGLAS (on-screen): The Boston Police is warning Chinese speakers to be on the lookout for this scam, and to report any instance of it to them. Douglas McWhirter, WBOR 12 NewsCenter.