Who would study psychology if they didn't have some kind of problem?

Chapter 472 is not a joke, and we are not being joking. If you encounter such a situation, please call the police immediately.
The visitor leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his whole body in a posture similar to a prostrate or bent-over position.

He hunched his neck forcefully, his hands clenching, relaxing, clenching, and relaxing three times.

Then he took a deep breath and slowly said, "I remember it was evening that day, around nine o'clock, when my phone suddenly rang. It was a video call, and it was from one of my comrades from when I was in the army."

“We were in the same army and retired at the same time, so we had a pretty good relationship. When the video call connected and I saw his face, I felt that something was wrong.”

"Cough cough..." As he said this, the visitor cleared his throat, and at the same time, his expression and body language began to show intense discomfort.

Nan Zhuren observed closely in real time, deciding whether to let the visitor continue to recall or to intervene herself in a timely manner.

The visitor continued, "He first exchanged a few simple pleasantries with me, asking how I was doing after I was discharged from the military. Then... he started crying."

“He told me that his family had recently encountered difficulties. He said his younger brother had been in a car accident, and his discharge compensation was not enough. He wanted to borrow money from me.”

At this point, the visitor paused, took a breath, and his discomfort was clearly visible.

But it wasn't time to stop and intervene with techniques yet. Nan Zhuren thought for a moment and continued the visitor's question: "How much did he borrow from you?"

"Five thousand," the visitor replied. "It's not much, and I don't value money much. If he really runs into trouble, it's fine if he doesn't pay it back; I'll just consider it a gift."

"I did think about it at the time... it might be telecom fraud or something. Before we were discharged, we received special training on this topic, because veterans are the group with more spare money, and many veterans have been scammed."

“I had a very good relationship with him, and I even felt that I owed him something back in the army. So when I borrowed money, I didn’t hesitate and agreed immediately. But while transferring the money, I chatted with him for a bit about my life in the army back then, just to confirm his identity and prevent him from being a scammer.”

They were at least cautious enough to verify the information before transferring money directly.

Nan Zhuren continued listening. If the visitor had "only" been cheated out of five thousand, he certainly wouldn't be in his current state.

In fact, when money was mentioned, the visitor's discomfort actually lessened compared to the beginning.

There will definitely be a twist later.

“I didn’t want him to think I suspected him of being a fraud. After all, he’s gone through something and he’s bound to be sensitive. I didn’t want to hurt him further. So I just asked him a few simple questions, like it was a joke or a casual chat, and he answered them all. That made me even less suspicious.”

"Then, I started transferring money to him. That's when the problem arose..."

"When I entered the amount of 'five thousand', it showed that the transfer failed. Then my comrade told me that because he had borrowed money from too many people in the past few days, his account only had 'three thousand' left."

"He asked me to transfer 'three thousand' first, but then immediately said that he needed to transfer 'five thousand' now."

"Then he asked me if I could scan a QR code to download a money transfer app so he could transfer the remaining 'two thousand' to him. He said that all other channels were either limited or disabled. He was in tears and said that he had really tried every possible way to raise the money these past few days."

Nan Zhuren's brows slowly furrowed.

At this point, it becomes quite obvious.

Indeed, the visitor sighed as if to himself, "Even a fool could see something was wrong here."

……

The visitor recalled, "Before we were discharged from the military, I had heard about AI face-swapping scams, and I realized then that I had encountered something like this."

The visitor showed no delight at having been caught; instead, his voice became increasingly broken, and he made more frequent, clenching his teeth and swallowing motions. "After I reported it to the police and they investigated, I learned that it was my comrade's phone and account that had been compromised. His information had been leaked, which is why his face was made into an AI to make video calls. Those scammers could also use chat logs and other information to answer our everyday questions easily."

Nan Zhuren exclaimed in surprise, "AI face-swapping... Have scammers really gotten this far?"

This question was merely to guide the conversation, and Nan Zhuren knew that was acceptable.

Technological advancements benefit all sectors and aspects of society, and even things that seem like urban legends are gradually becoming reality.

However, sometimes what gets developed is not something positive.

Upon hearing Nan Zhuren's words, the visitor lowered his head even further: "I had already seen through it, I understood everything, I even thought about calling the police, and I was already on my way to call the police..."

His voice grew softer and softer until it went completely silent, so much so that Nan Zhuren couldn't help but ask, "Did he use some other method to swindle even more money from you?"

The visitor shook his head: "There is a way, but if we just stop here, everything will be fine. The police said that this scammer may be taking advantage of my 'being in the game' mentality, which is similar to having already transferred 3,000 yuan, to get me to continue scanning codes and doing the following."

"I don't care about the three thousand yuan. Theoretically, I could have pulled back from the brink at this point."

"But, but..." The visitor suddenly clutched his head and pounded it twice, "I was too confident..."

……

The visitor's emotions began to rise.

However, Nan Zhuren still did not intervene.

What we are experiencing now is just a normal reaction when recounting past traumatic experiences; it is far from being a "problem."

Nan Zhuren continued to let the visitor tell his story.

"When I heard him ask me to scan the app, I guessed that he might really be one of those sophisticated scammers. So I got up and prepared to go to the police station for help."

"At the time, I was thinking about how there are a lot of jokes and videos online where people try to outsmart scammers, even chatting with them and becoming like brothers."

“I wasn’t on guard; I was too confident… I was only thinking that as long as I didn’t transfer any money, I could do whatever I wanted.”

“I’d even transfer some more money over if necessary. I’ll keep this scammer on the phone. When we get to the police station, maybe I can help them uncover something.”

"In this situation, I kept on the phone and scanned the QR code sent to me from across the street as I walked towards the police station. I downloaded an app, logged in, and then..."

The visitor suddenly shuddered: "It was because of this step that all my private information was leaked!"

　Longtime readers know that the author was also a victim of online fraud in the past.

　　After talking about this with friends, I discovered that there were similar cases around me, but I just didn't know about them before.

　　This case study incorporates several cases that the author has learned about and researched, hoping to broaden readers' knowledge while also serving as a warning.

　　If you discover any potential online or telecommunications fraud in your daily life, please report it to the police immediately.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)