Chinese woman Zhao lost over $100,000 to a romance scammer who used Microsoft Teams. The app, once seen as a trusted communication tool, is now a haven for scammers, with similar schemes reported on other corporate apps.
The scammer first contacted Zhao on Xiaohongshu, then moved the conversation to Teams, where he introduced a cryptocurrency investment project. Zhao, trusting the Microsoft app, lost her money and can’t share chat logs with police.
Since then, dozens of victims have spoken out, with one losing RMB 1.48 million. Local law enforcement in China have warned against the use of Teams for such scams, and Microsoft has issued warnings and discontinued the personal version of the app in China.
The scammers exploit the app’s enterprise features, creating accounts and sending victims pre-made login credentials, making it harder for victims to recover their money. Zhao’s attempt to gather more information by pretending to be a new victim didn’t yield much useful data.
The proliferation of such scams raises questions about the responsibility of tech companies in preventing fraud on their platforms. As scammers continue to evolve their tactics, so too must the protections offered by these apps.
