WeChat is frequently logged in and transferred by unfamiliar devices
The owner changed the password several times to no avail
In the end, the number can only be discarded
The people behind the scenes aren't very skilled
Just a phone that I picked up by accident
Let him discover the secret hidden in the WeChat account
……
"Crack" the login password by observing the WeChat account
Sheng, born in 1991, is an unemployed person in Guangxi. In 2022, Sheng accidentally picked up a mobile phone without a lock screen password, and he found that the owner's WeChat was still logged in, and the WeChat account and password were recorded in his favorites, so he tried to log in, and it was successful. Out of curiosity, he began to "explore" this WeChat, first tried to pay with the same password, and found that the password was correct, but there was no money in the owner's WeChat wallet, and there was no bank card binding. So he observed the friend list of the lost owner and found that several people's WeChat accounts were a combination of "letters + numbers", which was highly similar to the format of "name + birthday". Sheng had a whim: Will these WeChat accounts be their WeChat login passwords?
Just like discovering a "new game", Sheng tried to use this method to log in to the WeChat of a friend of the owner, because it was the first time to log in on a new device, security verification was required. After repeated research, Sheng successfully logged in through "friend verification". Subsequently, Sheng wanted to test whether his payment password was the same as the login password, so he used this WeChat to transfer a sum of money to the owner's WeChat, showing that the payment was successful. Since large-value transfers will trigger WeChat payment risk control, Sheng successfully transferred the money in WeChat to the owner's WeChat and then to his own account by means of multiple small-value transfers.
At this time, Sheng was worried about gambling debts, and this "success" undoubtedly made him taste the sweetness, and he began to pick out all the users who were suspected of using "name + birthday" to set up WeChat accounts among the WeChat friends of the owner, and tried to "crack" the login password and WeChat payment password one by one, and repeatedly succeeded.
Using compromised accounts to find more "prey"
Sheng was gradually not satisfied with getting the WeChat friends in this mobile phone, and began to continue to "dig" their friends through these new accounts. "I can steal about 2 new accounts from each WeChat account, and then I will continue to try to steal friends from these 2 new accounts." Sheng confessed after arriving at the case.
When the payment password is inconsistent with the login password, Sheng will also look through the information in the account favorites, shopping orders, etc., to see if he can get "valuable clues". After investigation, Sheng stole a total of more than 20 WeChat accounts, of which 13 payment passwords were "cracked" by him.
Since logging in to multiple WeChat accounts on the same mobile phone may be blocked, in order to circumvent WeChat's risk control management, Sheng has purchased 11 mobile phones for logging in to others' WeChat. In addition, he will first transfer the money in the target account to other WeChat accounts that he stolen, and then transfer them to his own account after layers of transfers, so as to achieve the purpose of "safely" transferring funds.
The victim's WeChat login is abnormal
In order to avoid being discovered by the owner, Sheng mostly committed crimes in the early hours of the morning. Although the account owner will receive a risk warning about "remote login", not everyone will notice it when they wake up. People who find the prompt often change their WeChat password immediately, but some victims find that although they have changed their WeChat password several times, the number thief can still log in to their WeChat all the time. For security reasons, most account owners will choose to unbind the bank card and abandon the account.
When asked about the operation method, Sheng confessed: "After I crack the password, I will bind my own verification information to the stolen account, if the account owner does not pay attention to abnormal reminders and related information, it will not be unbound, and I can log in all the time." ”
Transfer funds through the shopping platform
In August 2022, when Sheng was chatting with a distant relative, Wen, he accidentally leaked his mouth. Wen said that he was also short of money and wanted to do it with Sheng. Sheng was afraid that Wen would expose himself, so he had to agree to Wen's request, so Wen used his wife's identity information to register a WeChat account to help Sheng collect the theft money and obtain benefits from it, and Sheng has since added an extra layer of "cover".
Once, Sheng had a whim when shopping online, and he could register an online store to transfer funds. So he summed up with Wen: Wen registered as a merchant on the shopping platform, set the price and put the goods on the shelves, and then Sheng used the account owner's WeChat payment to take a photo, so as to create a false transaction and transfer the money in the account of the account owner's WeChat account to the merchant account registered by Wen.
"He will send a courier number and ask me to fill in the order, I will order the delivery, and he will use someone else's WeChat bound shopping account to pay the payment, and the money will go to the account of the shopping platform." According to Wen's confession, after the money was withdrawn, he divided it according to the "three sevens" agreed with Sheng in advance.
After the two tried out this new method of transferring money, they stole a total of seven or eight times, and it was not until the account owner WeChat unbound the account of the shopping platform that they could no longer use the method of "placing empty orders" to continue to transfer money.
Guide the investigation to consolidate the evidence base
During the period when Sheng and Wen committed the crime, victims in many places across the country reported that WeChat wallets or bank cards bound to WeChat had been stolen, and the public security organs filed a case for investigation. In October 2023, Sheng and Wen were arrested.
On February 1, 2024, the case was transferred to the Taicang Municipal Procuratorate in Jiangsu Province for review and prosecution. "The methods of committing the crime in this case are hidden, and the defendant and the victim do not have contact, or even have direct contact, so it is difficult to handle the case." According to the undertaker, in order to consolidate the evidence base, the Taicang Municipal Procuratorate issued an "Outline for Continuing Investigation" to the public security organs around the flow of funds, whether the relevant WeChat account was held by Sheng, and the location and equipment model of the victim's WeChat account to ensure that the crime was effectively charged.
After review, it was found that Sheng stole a total of more than 147,000 yuan from the WeChat accounts of 13 victims, and Wen helped Sheng receive, transfer, and withdraw stolen money totaling more than 65,000 yuan, making a profit of more than 12,000 yuan. All the stolen money obtained by Sheng was used for online gambling, online games, personal daily consumption, etc., and Wen has withdrawn all illegal gains.
On March 14, 2024, the Taicang Municipal Procuratorate prosecuted Sheng and Wen on suspicion of theft in accordance with the law. On July 17, 2024, the court sentenced the two to three years and six months in prison and one year and eight months in prison respectively for theft.
Remind:
It is recommended that you set up a personal account
Do not expose login passwords and payment passwords
Same or similar information
Periodically check the risks of login devices and binding information
When an anomaly is found
You should delete the device and replace the bindings as soon as possible
If you find that the account appears
Changes in the upper and lower lines or capital flow that are not operated by the person
You can freeze your account as soon as possible
Or invite a friend to initiate an account freeze on your behalf
At the same time, report to the customer service staff of the relevant platform as soon as possible
If necessary, please call the police in time
Source/Yunnan Communist Youth League, Kirin Media