Crackdown on telecom fraud yields results

China's police have cracked about 1.74 million telecommunications and online fraud cases during the 14th Five-Year Plan period as the country stepped up efforts to tackle the crime, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The current period, which runs from 2021 to 2025, has seen China dispatch working groups to countries including Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia for law enforcement cooperation against fraud, said Jiang Guoli, political commissar of the Criminal Investigation Bureau at the Ministry of Public Security.

The joint operations led to the dismantling of more than 2,000 overseas fraud dens and the capture of more than 80,000 suspects, Jiang told a news conference in Beijing. These actions have deterred overseas fraud groups and curbed the incidence of cross-border scams, he said.

China has launched several special campaigns to target organizations providing illegal services for fraud groups, such as advertising, technology development and money laundering, leading to the capture of 366,000 suspects.

Authorities have also worked to strengthen oversight of the telecommunications industry and fix loopholes exploited by scammers. More than 12 billion fraudulent calls and over 10 billion scam text messages have been blocked, Jiang said. Local police have intervened in many cases to prevent individuals from transferring money to scammers, Jiang said.

Control of ports and border areas has been tightened, with police cracking down on human smuggling organizers and dismantling illegal channels for exiting the country, he said. Due to the sustained crackdown on telecom and online fraud, many scammers have moved out of China but continue their operations overseas, Jiang added.

Jiang urged the public to remain vigilant against fraudulent job offers promising "high-paying jobs overseas" to avoid falling victim to scams.

Separately, China's police have continued efforts to tackle crimes undermining food safety during the current plan period, solving 64,000 such criminal cases, said Li Jiantao, director-general of the ministry's Bureau of Environmental Resources, Food and Drug Crime Investigation.

Authorities have intensified efforts to conduct spot checks on meat products, delivered meals and school-provided food to uncover and address food safety crimes, Li said. Police have encouraged public reporting of such crimes, publicized typical cases and issued timely alerts to raise awareness, he added.

Police will continue to take a "zero tolerance" approach to food safety crimes, Li said.