Extortion hits south-east

By Melissa Meehan
ASIAN businesses are being warned that extortion threats are sweeping the south-eastern suburbs.
Detective Senior Constable Stuart Freeman said more than 60 businesses had received phone calls from a man speaking Mandarin Chinese, demanding cash to help him fly family members to and from Australia.
“When the victim queries or refuses his repeated demands, he threatens that he will harm both them and their family,” Det Freeman said.
The latest reported incident happened on Monday to a woman in Virginia Street, Springvale.
“On Monday a 48-year-old woman received a call from a man speaking Mandarin,” Det Freeman said.
“He instructed her to speak in Mandarin and then made similar threats to her and her family.”
Det Freeman said the man said he lived in Taiwan and that his brothers had killed someone in Europe but were living near the factory. (There is a factory in Virginia Street.)
“He then demanded a substantial quantity of cash from the woman so that he could bring his brothers home,” he said.
“He also told the woman that he had been watching her family for a week and if she did not follow instructions that he would harm a family member.”
Det Freeman said police believed that the phone calls made to Asian businesses were random and that the businesses were not known to the man.
He said the Springvale woman believed she had been targeted after she had advertised in a Chinese language paper.
But police had become aware of a series of similar offences across the south-east of Melbourne.
They are following several leads but are appealing for anyone with information to come forward and report to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Det Freeman said police would also like to remind people not to release any personal information, including bank details, pin numbers or passwords, to anyone, whether by phone or internet.