China to intensify crackdown on telecom, internet fraud

BEIJING — Chinese central authorities have issued a set of guidelines to crack down on fraud involving telecommunication and the internet.

China will step up efforts to fight the whole criminal chain of telecom and internet fraud, and will enhance international cooperation to hunt down and extradite fugitives involved in these crimes, per the document jointly released by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

The authorities will make all efforts to retrieve money acquired by fraud rings, it said.

Technology should be used against the websites, apps and short messages used by fraud rings, and to enable law enforcement agencies to identify potential victims more precisely.

Awareness campaigns will be devised to better equip the public to identify fraud schemes, according to the document.

Authorities will also tighten the supervision over financial institutions to detect and cut off new money laundering channels of fraud rings. Those involved in telecom or internet fraud will be blacklisted by the country's social credit system.