Chinese student in US fakes her own kidnapping to con parents out of 500,000 yuan

The student sent a photo of herself bound and gagged to her mom

Police in California say that a 20-year-old Chinese student faked her own kidnapping in order to extort money from her dear old dad.

Wang Yimei is enrolled at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena. Last week, local police said that they received a call from the student’s mother, who said that her daughter had been kidnapped.

The mother, who was in the US, said that she had received a call from the kidnappers and was allowed to speak with her daughter over the phone. In the call, Wang said that she was okay, but urged her parents to send money.

A short time later, Wang’s dad, who was in China, paid the kidnappers 500,000 yuan ($79,000) in ransom money.

Wang’s mom was also sent a photo of her daughter bound and gagged inside what appeared to be a hotel room.

Using this photo, police were able to determine that Wang was being held inside a room at a local motel. At around 2 am, they arrived to investigate, finding Wang alone and unhurt.

She eventually admitted to having faked the kidnapping in order to con her parents out of the money. It’s not clear if she had any help in this deception.

Police said that at this time it’s also not clear why Wang needed $79,000. She was arrested on suspicion of extortion and was released later the same day after posting $30,000 bail.