I was a rookie reporter in the 00s

Chapter 316 Tourism Fraud Case

The sun in Sanya was still blazing, but Zhang Wanqing felt a sense of urgency. After receiving Fu Siyuan's call, she quickly rushed to the agreed-upon location—a seaside cafe. Fu Siyuan and Li Wei were already waiting there.

"Wanqing, you're finally here." Fu Siyuan stood up and greeted her immediately when he saw Zhang Wanqing come in.

"How's the situation?" Zhang Wanqing sat down and went straight to the point.

"Preliminary investigations revealed that this was a fraud case targeting out-of-town tourists. Most of the victims booked travel packages through online platforms, but only discovered they had been scammed after arriving in Sanya." Fu Siyuan flipped open his notebook, which was densely packed with various information.

"We have contacted several victims and their reports are similar," Li Wei added. "The fraud gang promised luxury hotel accommodation, private tour guide services, and tickets to a range of tourist attractions, but the services they actually provided were significantly discounted."

"Are there any clues?" Zhang Wanqing asked with a frown.

"We've tracked down a key figure—a tour guide named 'A Qiang,'" Fu Siyuan said, pointing to a photo in his notebook. "He's the main contact for this fraud ring, responsible for meeting tourists and guiding them to spend money."

"Then let's start with him." Zhang Wanqing said decisively.

The three decided not to alert the enemy first, but to secretly observe "Aqiang"'s actions. Using technical means, they found several scenic spots and hotels that Aqiang often visited and began to stake out.

On the first day, they waited outside a popular tourist attraction for a whole day before finally spotting Aqiang. He was leading a group of tourists, introducing the attraction with a smile on his face, but there was a sly look in his eyes.

"Wanqing, look at his expression, there must be something wrong." Li Wei said in a low voice.

"Don't worry, we'll catch up first." Zhang Wanqing responded in a low voice.

After Aqiang showed the tourists around the scenic spots, he took them to a seemingly high-end seafood restaurant. Zhang Wanqing, Fu Siyuan, and Li Wei also followed in, pretending to be ordinary tourists.

"The price of seafood here is several times higher than outside." Fu Siyuan whispered, "This is one of their ways to make money."

"After the tourists finish their meal, we'll find a chance to ask them." Zhang Wanqing observed the situation around her.

Sure enough, when the tourists checked out, they all showed expressions of surprise and dissatisfaction, but Aqiang was grinning from ear to ear.

After the tourists left the restaurant, Zhang Wanqing and the other two quickly stepped forward and identified themselves.

"We are reporters investigating a tourism fraud case. Have you encountered any problems?" Zhang Wanqing asked gently.

The tourists were a little wary at first, but after Zhang Wanqing's patient explanation, they finally opened up.

"We spent tens of thousands of yuan to book a package, but the hotel conditions were very poor. The tour guide kept taking us to spend money, and it was not at all what was advertised," complained a tourist.

"It's us too. We wanted to have a good time, but ended up getting ripped off badly," another tourist echoed.

Zhang Wanqing carefully recorded their every word and comforted them, saying, "We will report your situation to others so that more people will avoid being deceived."

Through communication with several victims, Zhang Wanqing and her two colleagues got more clues. They found that this fraud gang not only involved tour guides and restaurants, but also colluded with some hotels and shopping stores.

"It seems like this is a complete industry chain," Fu Siyuan analyzed. "They take advantage of tourists' unfamiliarity with local conditions and defraud them of their money through false advertising and high prices."

"Then we have to find evidence as soon as possible and catch them all in one fell swoop." Li Wei rubbed his hands ready.

On a Sanya morning, sunlight filtered through the shadows of the coconut trees through a thin mist, and the air was thick with the salty, damp sea breeze. Zhang Wanqing, Fu Siyuan, and Li Wei sat in a hotel conference room, their desks piled high with documents and notebooks. Before them lay a large whiteboard, covered in arrows and keywords in different colors—they had mapped out the operating model of the fraud ring.

"Based on the victims' descriptions, this gang's scheme is very clear," Fu Siyuan said, pointing to a diagram on the whiteboard. "After tourists book a tour package online, Aqiang acts as their tour guide. He first takes them to a designated hotel, then directs them to partner restaurants and shopping malls. Prices at these places are far higher than market prices, and the fraud gang takes hefty commissions."

"The key issue is that we need to find more direct evidence to prove their collusion," Zhang Wanqing added. "Right now we only have the victim's testimony, which is not enough for the police to take action."

"I've already tracked some of the funds." Fu Siyuan opened his laptop and pulled up a complex fund flow chart. "Judging from the victim's payment records, some funds did flow into some suspicious accounts. However, the identities of the owners of these accounts are unknown, so we need to investigate further."

"I suggest we split into three groups," Li Wei said. "I'll track Aqiang and see if he has any direct connections to the hotel, restaurant, or shopping mall. Fu Siyuan will continue to track the flow of funds and identify the true owners of these accounts. Wanqing, you'll communicate with more victims and collect more testimonies."

"Okay, let's do it." Zhang Wanqing nodded in agreement.

Li Wei arrived early at the hotel lobby where Aqiang often went, disguised as an ordinary tourist, and sat in a corner to observe. Aqiang soon appeared, wearing a floral shirt and sunglasses, looking energetic. Li Wei noticed that Aqiang's phone kept ringing, as if he was receiving a lot of calls.

After receiving a phone call, Aqiang hurried out of the hotel, and Li Wei immediately followed him. He saw Aqiang walk into a seafood restaurant and have an animated conversation with the owner. Li Wei hid in a corner outside the restaurant and observed through the window.

"It seems that they have a close relationship." Li Wei muttered to himself.

At that moment, he noticed a note sticking out of Aqiang's pocket. Li Wei came up with a plan. While Aqiang wasn't paying attention, he quietly approached and took a photo of the note with his phone. The note contained a string of numbers and letters that looked like a password or account number.

"This may be a key clue." Li Wei immediately sent the photo to Fu Siyuan.

Siyuan sat at his computer, his eyes glued to the screen. Before him lay a complex chart of capital flows, its densely packed lines and numbers giving him a headache. But his gaze remained remarkably focused, for he knew the secrets of the fraud ring lay hidden behind these figures.

"The flow of funds is too complicated, like a huge spider web." Fu Siyuan said to himself.

Just then, he received a photo from Li Wei. He immediately entered the information on the note into the system for comparison. After some operation, he finally found a key node—an account hidden deep in the flow of funds.

"The owner of this account is a man named 'Lin Hai.'" Fu Siyuan's face showed a hint of excitement. "He may be the core figure of this fraud gang."

He immediately told Zhang Wanqing and Li Wei about his discovery.