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AI Robot Makes 200,000 Calls a Day: How a Fraud Gang Tricked Thousands in Two Months

AI Dialing Machine: 200,000 Calls a Day, Over a Thousand Victims in Two Months

In July, Mr. Wang from Luyao, Zhejiang, was looking to borrow money for his child's summer tutoring classes. A call came in from someone claiming to be an agent from a loan platform. The caller knew his loan history and promised to increase his credit limit. After Wang borrowed 15,500 yuan through a legitimate platform, the caller told him 5,500 yuan was "capital provider funding" and needed to be returned to a designated account. Wang complied. Then they pushed him to take loans from multiple platforms. When Wang tried to stop, the caller spun a story: transfer 10,000 yuan to the company account to repay the debt, and you'll get another 10,000 credit limit. The money went out, but his platform debt didn't budge. He called the police.

Inside the Fraud Factory: A Legitimate Front with a Dark Engine

Luyao police moved fast. Within five days, they tracked the operation to a high-end office building near a subway station in Changsha. At first glance, it looked like a normal company—departments for personnel, call center, tech group. But behind the scenes, the gang ran a sophisticated scheme.

Officer Ye Jie from the investigation team broke it down: the group used AI robots to attract customers, then handed them to real people for collection. Suspects only needed to pay on the AI platform to get dynamic account credentials, import illegal phone databases, and set time frames and frequencies. With a regular computer, the system automatically made mass outbound calls. Calls were concentrated between 10 a.m. and noon, and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., hitting over 200,000 calls per day. Anyone who showed interest was marked as a "valid lead" and seamlessly transferred to human operators.

But the AI did more than dial. It classified people by keywords into six categories: those who added WeChat and were accepted, those who added but were not accepted, those who didn't need it, those who were emotional, those who were unclear, and those who didn't meet the criteria. Each got a different follow-up.

The gang also targeted legitimate users' refund requests from formal online lending platforms. These were legally refundable amounts, but the gang falsely claimed to help retrieve them to build trust. Police noted that most victims were people in financial difficulty—recent college graduates and the elderly.

The Cost of Casting a Wide Net

So far, over one million yuan has been frozen, and more than 100 pieces of crime tools seized. All 30 suspects have been taken under criminal compulsory measures for suspicion of fraud, and the investigation continues.

AI has drastically reduced the cost of "casting a wide net," providing a more hidden pipeline for fraud schemes. The case serves as a stark reminder: not every call offering help is on your side.

Key Points:

  • AI voice system made over 200,000 calls daily, defrauding thousands in two months.
  • Gang operated from a high-end office building in Changsha, with clear divisions of labor.
  • Victims were mostly in financial need: recent graduates and the elderly.
  • Police froze over one million yuan and arrested 30 suspects.
  • AI lowers the cost of mass fraud, making schemes harder to detect.