Chinese police detain 1,400 people in telephone scams

18:59, 31 July 2009

BEIJING. July 31. KAZINFORM Chinese police have broken up 229 fraud rings and detained more than 1,400 people allegedly involved in telephone scams over the last seven weeks, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Police identified almost 3,000 scams and seized 12.48 million yuan (1.83 million U.S. dollars) since the Ministry of Public Security launched a crackdown on telecommunications fraud on June 12, the ministry said Friday.

A gang allegedly led by Lin Huiling in southeastern Fujian Province's Xiamen City was broken up by the police on July 2, said a statement issued by the ministry.

Six alleged members of the gang, based in Vietnam, were detained for "cheating" more than 300 subscribers out of more than 6 million yuan by telling them they had defaulted on phone charges.

Thirteen people were detained and more than 200 bank cards used in the scam were confiscated.

The ministry said the police launched several education campaigns, asking students, the middle-aged and the elderly to watch educational films so as not to be deceived by fraudsters, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.

News World News