Teenager arrested for Trojan trickery

Jiading district prosecutors have signed off on the arrest of a 16-year-old boy who stole 35,540 yuan ($5,689) from an online gamer who thought he was buying virtual currency, local media reported Wednesday.

The defendant, surnamed Wang, was charged with fraud for tricking an Internet user into installing software that allowed Wang to access his online bank account, according to a report in the Youth Daily. If convicted, Wang could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Wang lured his victims by posting advertisements online that claimed he was selling virtual currency for certain video games, the report said.

The victim in the case, a man surnamed Zhu, contacted Wang online on February 14 to buy 20 yuan worth of in-game currency. When the transaction was complete, Zhu found that the currency didn't work.

Having hooked a potential victim, Wang asked Zhu to send him a screenshot of his recent bank account transactions. Wang told Zhu that he needed the transaction record to confirm that Zhu actually paid for the currency. In reality, however, Wang wanted to see how much money Zhu had in his bank account, the report said.

After examining the transaction record, Wang decided Zhu was a worthwhile target.

He then sent Zhu a link that he claimed would "activate" the currency for an additional 1 yuan, the report said. Zhu clicked the link, which sent him to a payment website. Zhu entered the username and password to his online bank account to pay the 1 yuan. Then his computer shut down.

It turned out that clicking the link downloaded a Trojan horse program onto Zhu's computer. When Zhu entered his username and password, the program allowed Wang to steal the information and access Zhu's online bank account.

After his computer shut down, Zhu contacted his bank and discovered someone had emptied his account. He then notified police.

Police caught Wang through his accomplice, a 13-year-old junior high school dropout surnamed Li, the report said.

It was unclear what led police to Li, who was not charged in the case because he was under 14 years old.

Wang had been living in Shanghai alone since his parents moved to Guangdong province to work.

He admitted to police that he had committed the same scam nearly 30 times, earning more than 70,000 yuan in total, the report said.

However, prosecutors could only charge him with stealing 35,540 yuan because none of his other victims reported the crimes to police, said Xu Dan, a press officer with the Jiading District People's Prosecutors Office.