Have You Been Fooled Too

"Is that phone new?"

Li Yunfei: ......

Seeing Li Yunfei's expression, Xu Mo pretty much understood - he had probably been scammed too.

He was immediately surprised - this "Brother Hai" in the bathroom stall seemed to have some real skills if he could even scam a police officer!

Just then, another voice came from the stall.

"What I told you earlier was just the general idea. There are many details I haven't covered yet. I'll tell you more when we get out. Are you done?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Alright, let's talk outside then."

The sound of a toilet flushing followed.

Meanwhile...

Chen Ke and the other police officers were still sitting in the private room waiting for Xu Mo and Li Yunfei to return.

"What's taking them so long? It's been over ten minutes just to use the bathroom."

"Maybe they're doing number two. Just wait a bit longer, what's the rush? Let's just sit and wait." The officer pulled out his phone, planning to pass the time by reading.

"Hey, did you get a new phone? How much was it?"

"I didn't buy it - I got it free from the bank. There's a new ICBC branch that opened on Huaihai Road. They're giving away cooking oil and rice if you deposit 10,000 yuan in a fixed-term account, and if you deposit 100,000 yuan they give you a free phone. The interest rate is even slightly higher than other branches. Pretty good deal."

"Seriously? That phone must be worth four or five thousand yuan, and they're just giving it away for a deposit?"

"Damn, isn't that basically getting it for free? Where exactly on Huaihai Road is this bank?"

"Just on Huaihai Road, you can't miss it. There are lots of people queuing to make deposits. It's very obvious - you'll know it when you see it."

"Alright, I'll check it out tomorrow."

"You better go early then. These kinds of great promotions are rare - first come, first served. The offer might be gone if you go too late!"

"......"

In the bathroom.

The two men from the stall came out.

One fat and one thin, both reeking of alcohol. The fat one wore a thick gold chain as wide as a finger - he must be the so-called 'Brother Hai.'

As soon as they exited the stall, Brother Hai noticed two people staring at him - Xu Mo and Li Yunfei.

Brother Hai paid them little attention, just giving them a quick glance before heading straight to the sink to wash his hands.

However, Xu Mo and Li Yunfei weren't about to let him leave so easily.

In the next moment, Li Yunfei stepped forward and pinned Brother Hai against the sink: "Don't move!"

"What the hell, man! What are you doing? You think you're a cop? Let go of me! I'm warning you, I know self-defense!"

Li Yunfei kept one hand on Brother Hai while pulling out his police badge with the other: "I am a cop."

Brother Hai: ......

Well damn, he really was a cop!

His tone immediately became less aggressive.

"Even if you're a cop... you... you can't just arrest people randomly!"

"You're suspected of financial institution fraud. I'm placing you under arrest. Is that reason enough?" Li Yunfei continued.

"Fuck!" Brother Hai sobered up instantly when he heard this. Had he really blabbed about the fake bank scheme while drunk!?

This was bad! The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was in trouble. He immediately tried to break free and escape.

But in his drunken state, he could barely walk straight, let alone overpower Li Yunfei, who was in his prime. Despite his desperate struggles, he remained firmly pinned against the sink.

"Brother Xu, help me out - arrest him too. This guy has dangerous ideas!" Li Yunfei, still holding Brother Hai down and unable to free his hands, nodded toward the thinner man who had been praising Brother Hai earlier.

The thin man saw things going south and tried to run, but the quick-thinking Xu Mo grabbed his arm.

The thin man tried to break free from Xu Mo's grip, but Xu Mo's hand was like a vice, holding him firmly no matter how hard he struggled.

"Brother, why are you arresting me? I haven't done anything wrong! I'm a law-abiding citizen!" the man pleaded.

"We know you haven't committed a crime, but your way of thinking is dangerous and needs some correction. Don't worry, it's nothing serious - just some verbal education," Xu Mo said expressionlessly, sharing the same thoughts as Li Yunfei.

In Xu Mo's view, this thinner man was too gullible, believing everything he was told. He even bought into this scheme about fake financial institutions as a way to make money. If they didn't take him to the police station for some education, he might end up being led down a path of crime in the future.

Taking him in for some verbal education would be good for both him and society.

"I won't have a criminal record, will I?"

"No, you haven't committed any crime. Just come with us, don't worry."

"Phew... that's good. You really scared me."

Meanwhile, Li Yunfei had taken out his handcuffs and, while still holding Brother Hai down with one hand, managed to cuff him with the other.

Then, Xu Mo and Li Yunfei, each holding one suspect, returned to the private room.

The officers in the room were still discussing the bank deposit promotion.

"Anyone want to go deposit money tomorrow and get some freebies? Let's go together."

"I'll go with you. My phone needs replacing anyway - the screen's been cracked for ages but I've been too cheap to replace it."

"Count me in."

"Me too."

"......"

"How come I've never seen such a good deal before - getting a free phone just for making a deposit?"

"Times are different now. Nothing's easy these days, every industry is super competitive. See, even banks are getting competitive to attract customers."

"That's true... every industry really is getting cutthroat."

When Xu Mo and Li Yunfei returned to the private room, each holding a suspect, everyone stopped talking and looked at them in confusion.

"What's going on here? How did you manage to arrest two people just from going to the bathroom? What did they do?"

Li Yunfei was still angry about the whole thing - damn it, they had even managed to scam him, a police officer! With a dark face, he replied irritably: "Financial institution fraud, similar to illegal fundraising."

"Financial institution fraud?" Chen Ke asked with a smile. "What kind of institution? Don't tell me it's a bank?"

Li Yunfei's face grew even darker: "Yes, a bank."

He then pointed at Brother Hai with his gold chain: "He set up a fake ICBC on Huaihai Road, running a promotion offering gifts for deposits to attract people. But the depositors' money never actually went to ICBC - it all went straight into his pocket. This guy managed to scam over 4 million yuan in just one week!"

The other officers were shocked.

"Wow! Over 4 million in a week? That's almost as fast as printing money... Wait! A fake bank? You mean that ICBC on Huaihai Road offering phones for 100,000 yuan deposits is fake!? Damn..."

Hearing this, Li Yunfei immediately looked at the officer who spoke - well, looks like he wasn't the only fool here!

"Don't tell me you got scammed too?"

The officer looked at Li Yunfei in surprise: "What? You too...?"

They exchanged glances, seeing mutual resignation and a hint of shared misery in each other's eyes.

Brothers in misfortune!

Both of them, two police officers, had fallen for the exact same scam!

And each had been scammed out of 100,000 yuan!

As police officers who regularly educated the public about fraud prevention, getting scammed was quite embarrassing.

The worst part was that their colleagues would never let them live this down!