An anti-scam blogger has allegedly been tortured and beaten to death for exposing a fraud network.
Wu Kai was reportedly kidnapped, tortured and killed by a gang hired through Telegram after a suspected crime lord put out a £110,000 bounty on his head.
The blogger was repeatedly beaten, had half a fingernail cut off and was repeatedly kicked in the head until he lost consciousness.
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His assassin then left him to die on a hillside in China, covering him with grass to disguise the body. He then reportedly took photographs of the brutalised campaigner to satisfy the individual who had ordered the hit.
Two days later, local villagers stumbled upon his body and contacted the authorities.
Officials say the hit was a retaliation for exposing fraud networks in Southeast Asia.
Chinese state media claimed one of the attackers, Zhao Bing, was employed through Telegram by a user known only as “Shaoxiao”, which translates to a rank of military commander in Chinese.
The hitman was given Wu’s address and a mission: force him to reveal who was backing his investigations and delete the articles.
Zhao and his four accomplices later split a payment of one million yuan (£112,000).
The killing took place in November 2024, but Zhao was only sentenced in December 2025, with his appeal upheld in August 2026.
Zhao was issued the death penalty with a two-year reprieve.
But the sentence has sparked outrage in China, with some questioning whether the punishment is severe enough. Many say he should be executed immediately.
Wu had spent years investigating telecoms fraud and suspected scam compounds operating in Southeast Asia.
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