Police warned Beijing citizens on Monday to be on the alert for foreigners who use local peoples' kind hearts as a means of swindling money.

Last week, police in northeast Beijing's Chaoyang District arrested 15 expatriates who were suspected of illegally taking more than 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) over the past six months.

The Chaoyang District Public Security Bureau received several reports in June that a group of foreigners had conned citizens out of large sums of money.

One victim, a cigarette salesman surnamed Wang who does business in a market near Chaoyang District, said that several foreigners in decent clothes approached him one day recently.

The foreigners took out a 100 yuan (US$12) banknote to purchase a package of cigarettes from him, and pretended to seek change in his suitcase on their own. While the unsuspecting Wang tended other customers, the group stole 3,000 yuan (US$360) from the suitcase.

Investigation revealed that con artists such as these often set out in groups of three to five, drive rental cars and cover the car's license plates with paper. As they pretend to purchase an item or look for change, they snatch money. Police report that they have even stolen money from poverty-stricken garbage collectors.

More than 60 officers were assigned to the task force at the beginning of the month. They arrested 15 suspects in a residential community in Shunyi District, on the city's outskirts. The suspects range in age from 19 to more than 40, and come from four different countries.

In Chaoyang alone, they are alleged to have collected 110,000 yuan (US$13,000) in 30 individual incidents.

Police refused to disclose the nationalities of the suspects. They are continuing the investigation.

Xinhua News Agency reports that there are more than 40,000 foreigners living in the capital for extended periods. Some of the unscrupulous among them are increasingly taking advantage of Beijing citizens' kindness to commit crimes, Xinhua says.

In May, for example, police in Shanghai arrested three people from South America for involvement in three diamond thefts. Kong Xianming, deputy director of the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, was quoted as saying that it is normal for the city -- an open international metropolis -- to contain a foreign criminal element.

Police said Chaoyang District, where some 140 embassies, 3,000 foreign companies and 100 star-rated hotels are located, has become a target of foreign criminals. In addition, many Chinese people are easily taken in as they regard all foreigners as rich and well behaved.

(China Daily July 20, 2004)