bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Jun Mai

The growing number of telecom frauds has led to an increase in illegal support industries, including personal information collection and fake website design, mainland media reports.
Such outsourced industries, which provide assistance to fraud gangs, are highly specialised. Some collect and sell personal information, others set up bank accounts or obtain SIM cards under fake names, according to Outlook Weekly, a news magazine published by Xinhua.
Phone fraud still rampant in China despite massive crackdown
Yet others specialise in designing fake websites or leasing out lines for Internet phones with changeable numbers.
“Fraud gangs are the main clients in such industries,” said a spokesperson with the criminal investigation bureau of the Ministry of Public Security. “They benefit a lot from working with fraud gangs and some have even developed stable relationships with such gangs.”

Telecom fraud cases in China had been growing by 20 to 30 per cent annually for the past decade, the report said. The sums involved in each case were growing also, as not only individuals but also companies became victims. Since 2013, 104 cases each involved losses of more than 10 million yuan (HK$11.6 million).
More than 2,390 cases involved losses of more than 1 million yuan in the same period. The largest loss from a single victim was 117 million yuan, the report said.
China’s 117-million-yuan phone scam: involvement of Taiwanese suspects may fuel Beijing’s row with Taipei
Support from secondary industries is vital to gangs involved in fraud, who rely heavily on bank accounts and SIM cards in fake names, making it more difficult for police to track the perpetrators of such scams.
Some groups hired migrant workers, students or drug addicts to open accounts in their names, paying 50 to 100 yuan per account, said police officer Chen Zongqing who serves in Quanzhou, Fujian province, known as a major base of frauds.
The worst-hit spots were developed cities on China’s eastern coastline, but there had been a growing number of such cases in central and western cities also, the Ministry of Public Security spokesperson said.
Fraud gangs were also relocating their bases to Europe and Africa as Beijing stepped up cooperation with police departments in Southeast Asia, where most gangs were previously based, the spokesperson said.


Who’s behind the fake bank accounts and websites used by China’s notorious telecoms fraudsters?

Rising number of telecoms fraud cases is breeding secondary illegal industries

(160921) -- NANJING, Sept. 21, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Chinese telecom fraud suspects are escorted off an aircraft by the police at Lukou International Airport in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Sept. 20, 2016. Chinese police brought 63 telecom fraud suspects back from Cambodia on Tuesday in their continued crackdown on such crimes, the Ministry of Public Security said. 
  (Xinhua/Han Yuqing) (wyo)

Police escort Chinese and Taiwanese wire fraud suspects off a plane in Beijing in August. A raft of secondary industries has evolved to support such frauds. Photo: Xinhua

Phone fraud still rampant in China despite massive crackdown

Despite a massive crackdown on phone fraud in China and overseas, involving hundreds of arrests, the illegal syndicates are as prolific as ever. Photo: Xinhua

=== NO ARCHIVE IMAGE === ATN. CHEAT24. SCMP Pictures (UNDATED HANDOUT)

scmp

Masked alleged fraud suspects are escorted by unseen policemen as they arrive at Taoyuan Airport in Taoyuan on April 15, 2016. Malaysia has deported 20 Taiwanese implicated in fraud back to Taiwan despite Beijing seeking to have them sent to mainland China, Taipei said, in a new bout of diplomatic sparring between the rivals. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH

News

China

People & Culture

Rising number of telecoms fraud cases is breeding secondary illegal industries


Who’s behind the fake bank accounts and websites used by China’s notorious telecoms fraudsters?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Rising number of telecoms fraud cases is breeding secondary illegal industries

Rising number of telecoms fraud cases is breeding secondary illegal industries