{"id":6189,"date":"2026-08-28T18:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6189"},"modified":"2026-08-28T18:31:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T18:31:01","slug":"microsoft-teams-is-becoming-a-haven-for-chinese-scammers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6189","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft Teams Has Become a Haven for Scammers in China"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paywall\">On Chinese social media, people have also reported experiencing variations of the scam involving other corporate software apps, including Webex, a video conferencing platform owned by Cisco, and Cliq, a workplace communication app owned by the Indian software giant Zoho. Since February 2025, 71 percent of the over 150 reviews of Webex on Apple\u2019s Chinese app store referenced being scammed on the platform, according to WIRED\u2019s analysis. Cisco did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Sam Wunderl, a spokesperson for Zoho, says the company has identified \u201ca limited number of instances involving scammers using Zoho Cliq to defraud victims.\u201d The company says it uncovered the suspicious usage internally. As of August 27, Zoho says it disabled online payments to Cliq in China, suspended every account created by the suspected scammer it identified, and plans to discontinue the free version of Cliq in China going forward.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"paywall\">All Roads Go to Teams<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paywall\">According to dozens of victim accounts shared on Chinese social media platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the scammers look for new targets seemingly anywhere they can. They pose as job recruiters looking to fill open positions, prospective renters contacting landlords, potential dates on Tinder, and international buyers looking to source products from Chinese factories.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The scammers take advantage of Teams\u2019 enterprise features by creating accounts for their targets and sending them pre-made login credentials. Because the scammers control the organization, they can deactivate the accounts once the scheme is over, wiping out victims\u2019 access to chat histories that could be potentially used as evidence. To explain the unusual setup, scammers may tell victims they\u2019re using work devices that only allow certain apps, or say they created a private Teams account just for the two of them to chat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">It turned out that some of the other victims who contacted Zhao had encountered the very same scammer she had. One was able to share Teams login credentials with her. This time, Zhao pretended to be a new potential victim in order to hopefully trick the scammer into providing more information about how his ruse worked.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">She asked why he had to use Teams instead of WeChat, by far the most popular messaging app in China. The scammer claimed his colleagues could see his WeChat messages because he was on a work project, so Teams \u201cis like our secret base together.\u201d The account he gave Zhao, he said, was \u201cfor team members to contact family while on the project.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">\u201cCan I ask a small question. What\u2019s the special meaning about my account \u2018joy20706905?\u2019\u201d Zhao asked, referring to the username he provided. \u201cThe account was assigned by the software when you purchase it from Microsoft,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">Zhao says when she was defrauded in May, Microsoft Teams didn\u2019t alert her that the conversation she was having with the scammer might be dangerous. It was only when she talked to him again in August that the app started showing a banner that reads: \u201cDon\u2019t share confidential info or your screen with people you don\u2019t know. Report anything suspicious.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"paywall\">Why Teams?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"paywall\">In many ways, Microsoft Teams is an ideal app for fraudsters in China. Unlike Telegram or WhatsApp, it isn\u2019t blocked by the government. And it has advanced tools like screen sharing and remote control that allow scammers to potentially gain more control over their victims\u2019 devices. Most importantly, it\u2019s a legitimate workplace communication app made by a trusted multinational tech company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paywall\">The same factors also apply to Webex. Tan Chenxin, a Chinese software engineer living in New York, says he was nearly defrauded earlier this week after he received a call from someone claiming to be working on a joint police investigation with US Customs and Border Protection and Chinese law enforcement. They asked Tan to download Webex and hop on a video call to discuss the situation. \u201cI looked up Webex and found that it was developed by Cisco, a world-leading cybersecurity software provider,\u201d Tan says. \u201cI happen to know what Cisco is, so I convinced myself it was fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/microsoft-teams-is-becoming-a-haven-for-chinese-scammers\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Chinese social media, people have also reported experiencing variations of the scam involving other corporate software apps, including Webex, a video conferencing platform owned by Cisco, and Cliq, a workplace communication app owned by the Indian software giant Zoho. Since February 2025, 71 percent of the over 150 reviews of Webex on Apple\u2019s Chinese [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[280,669,279,158,429],"class_list":["post-6189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-china","tag-content-moderation","tag-made-in-china","tag-microsoft","tag-scams"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Microsoft Teams Has Become a Haven for Scammers in China - Silvybrand Lifestyle Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fraudsters are exploiting enterprise chat apps like Teams and Webex to trick Chinese victims into transferring large sums of money, fueling a wave of complaints.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=6189\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Microsoft Teams Has Become a Haven for Scammers in China - 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