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Laura Zhou

Five men who allegedly posed as prostitutes on the internet to get the contact details of potential clients and then sell the information on have been arrested in central China.
The men used software to distort their location while claiming to be local prostitutes when chatting to men in Singapore and Malaysia on the social media app WeChat, Chinanews.com reported.
They would pretend to offer their services for two hours for S$150 (HK$830) or S$300 to stay a whole night, the report said.
READ MORE: More than 100 dating websites shuttered by Chinese authorities for fraud, prostitution
Once a deal was made the five allegedly sent details including the clients’ mobile phone numbers and home address to a middleman who paid them commission.
The report did not say what the middleman did with the information.
The men were arrested at a flat in Jingshan county in Hubei province, according to the report.
READ MORE: 62 mainland Chinese and Taiwanese ‘prostitutes’ arrested as Hong Kong police raid karaoke bar ‘run by triads’
Police said the five, all in their 20s, had received over 700,000 yuan (HK$850,000) since August through their contact with more than 200 foreign men, mostly from the two Southeast Asian nations. 
The five, from different parts of the province, met each other online. 
The main suspect, a 29-year-old whose full name was not given in the report, had promised to pay the others a monthly salary of 5,000 yuan for the job. 
Geolocation features on social media apps, allowing people living close to each other to chat and meet up, have been gaining in popularity around the world, but concerns have been raised as some have used the technology to solicit as prostitutes.
 


WeChat hacked by 5 men in Central China who posed as prostitutes in Singapore and Malaysia, scamming the gullible to send private details

Three of the suspects arrested by the police in Hubei province. They used software on WeChat to distort their location and pose as prostitutes to get clients' contact information. Photo: Chinanews.com

Mainland Chinese prostitute stabbed to death in frenzied brothel attack had only been in Hong Kong 24 hours

Police pictured at the scene in Reclamation Street, Yau Ma Tei this morning. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The victim was pronounced dead at Kwong Wah Hospital. Photo: SCMP Pictures

The victim was pronounced dead at Kwong Wah Hospital. Photo: Cable TV

Police pictured at the scene in Reclamation Street, Yau Ma Tei this morning. Photo: Now TV

The building in Yau Ma Tei where the victim was found. Photo: Edward Wong

Inside the building where the victim was found. Edward Wong

A police officer takes away bags of evidence. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Raid on Chinese web-chat sex ring nets 'models and actresses moonlighting as prostitutes'

Alleged prostitutes detained by police in Shanghai reportedly charged clients up to 10,000 yuan for sexual services. File photo: Sinopix

Mainland China finally considering reclassifying sex with underage prostitutes as rape after pressure from activists

A Peking University student lights a candle to mourn the rape of a colleague. Photo: Reuters

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