China Cracks Down on Telecom Fraud, Issues 100-Person Wanted List

To combat online telecom fraud, China’s Ministry of Public Security on the 9th announced the issuance of wanted notices for 100 fugitive financial backers and key ringleaders of telecom fraud. This includes important fugitives from the criminal groups of the 'four major families' in northern Myanmar, such as Wu Qiping, Wu Qingzheng, Fu Xiaobin, and Ou Changhua. A reward of 200,000 RMB (116,500 MYR) has also been offered.

This batch of wanted notices from China’s Ministry of Public Security was publicly announced with bounties by public security organs in Zhejiang’s Hangzhou and Wenzhou, Fujian’s Quanzhou and Longyan, Henan’s Pingdingshan, Guangdong’s Shenzhen, Yunnan’s Kunming, and Chongqing, among other locations. The notices include large headshots of the suspects, names, and for most, even ID card numbers and household registration addresses.

According to Chinese authorities, in recent years, these criminal suspects, under the protection of foreign forces, have organized recruitment of personnel to carry out long-term telecom and online fraud targeting Chinese citizens, involving huge sums and of extremely egregious nature. Even after the government launched specialized operations, these individuals have shown no sign of repentance or withdrawal. The public notice states that those who provide effective leads and assist in arrests will be lawfully protected and rewarded.

Earlier, on the 8th, China’s Ministry of Public Security announced that since the 1st of this month, another 1,178 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom fraud from Myanmar’s Myawaddy region were escorted back to China by the police via Thailand. According to statistics, since February when China, Myanmar, and Thailand began their joint operation to repatriate telecom fraud suspects from the Myawaddy area, more than 6,600 Chinese suspects have been escorted back to China.

On the 9th, Beijing Public Security Bureau held a concentrated event for returning intercepted telecom scam funds. Thirty people recovered a total of about 30 million RMB (17.477 million MYR) in scammed funds. So far this year, over 800 million RMB (466 million MYR) in fraudulent funds has been returned to the public.