Police in the northeastern Jilin province have busted a fraudulent scheme involving some 80,000 “members” in 26 provincial-level regions of China, Sixth Tone’s sister publication, The Paper, reported Thursday. The victims — thousands of whom were deaf or mute — had been promised a “few hundred thousand” yuan as well as apartments in return for an initial investment of a few hundred yuan that was supposedly needed to unfreeze “national assets,” the report said.

Authorities “recently” found over 600 forged government documents at the home of a 62-year-old man surnamed Lin who was a prominent figure within the criminal ring. In late 2016, Lin recruited a man surnamed Huang, who in turn partnered with a deaf and mute woman surnamed Xu with whom he had a “close relationship,” according to the report.

Believing the scheme to be a genuine investment opportunity, Huang and Xu began to recruit additional members from online chat groups for deaf and mute people. In August 2017, the two realized Lin was a fraud after coming across news of a previous arrest over his involvement in a similar scam — but they decided to make the most of the situation and began taking a cut from the various fees they levied upon their unsuspecting peers.

Since July 2015, the pyramid scheme had accumulated 80,000 members, around 100 of whom were “leaders” who transferred over 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) to Lin. In May, a court convicted Lin, Huang, and Xu of fraud and sentenced them each to between three and five years in prison.

Nefariously creative scams are a dime a dozen in China. In recent years, con artists in the country have made headlines by attempting to defraud a wide range of communities, including university students, app developers, senior citizens, health insurers, cryptocurrency speculators, sexting and besotted singles, medical tourists, and even people who have trouble waking up in the morning. (Image: The Paper)