China Intensifies Crackdown on Telco Fraud as Cases Surge

China has deepened its crackdown on telecommunications fraud, as cases surged 26.7 percent in 2024, compared with the year before.

- Aw Cheng Wei

Some 40,000 cases of telco fraud, involving 8,200 suspects, were concluded in 2024, the latest Supreme People's Court report on March 8 showed.

Telco fraud also featured in the latest Supreme People's Procuratorate report—released on the same day—with prosecutors highlighting a case in which they are charging 39 suspects and which has been dubbed one of China's most egregious examples of the crime.

The case, now before a court in eastern Jiangsu province, involves members of a Chinese family surnamed Ming who are alleged to have "occupied the Kokang region of Myanmar, developing and relying on armed forces to set up multiple industrial parks."

The suspects brought in and housed in these industrial parks cross-border online fraud criminal groups, which carried out their activities in these enclaves, the report added.

These activities allegedly included illegally detaining people, including Chinese nationals who had been tricked and trafficked to these centers, and forcing them to work as online scammers.

The report said the Ming family members "have colluded with these groups to commit crimes such as intentional homicide, intentional injury and illegal detention, resulting in the deaths of several Chinese nationals."