Phone banking scam gang on trial

A gang of 11 who pretended to be government officials, cheating victims out of over 13 million yuan ($2 million) in a phone scam, were prosecuted at Beijing No.2 Intermediate Court, the Beijing Times reported yesterday.

The 11, aged from 21 to 33, pretended to be judicial officials, and called victims informing them their bank account details had been stolen, tricking their victims into transferring their assets to another bank account appointed by the gang. The gang was detained in December 2010.