'Policeman Chen' goes viral in online fight against fraud
The policeman netizen, "Policeman Chen," (left) volunteered to promote the national anti-fraud application through livestreaming and co-hosting rooms on Douyin and Kuaishou. His livestreaming programs attracted more than 21 million viewers, and the short videos were watched by more than 100 million people.
A national anti-fraud mobile application has gone viral online and taken the top position of the App Store in China, following a policeman's unique promotion on digital platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou.
The application, developed by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Public Security, debuted in March.
It is an official platform to help users prevent online fraud and crime with advice, tips and real case stories.
The policeman netizen, "Policeman Chen," volunteered to promote the application through livestreaming and co-hosting rooms on Douyin and Kuaishou.
He often starts with "Have you downloaded the National Anti-fraud Center application?" Then he explains the meaning and functions of the app.
Policeman Chen links to various online broadcasters and influencers. Some of them are cosplay characters, such as Gonggong or Eunuch and Monkey King Sun Wukong, who are well known in Chinese literature and history.
The broadcasters were surprised and frightened initially.
Then they became volunteers for the anti-fraud app and promoted it online, telling fans to download the application.
Sometimes, two different anti-fraud promotion broadcasters meet each other in one room online, creating dramatic impact.
On Douyin, a cost-host video between Policeman Chen and a Gonggong cosplayer attracted 1.26 million likes and 167,000 comments.
And it has been forwarded 643,000 times.
"It's beyond my imagination to see a serious topic in such an interesting way. I can't forget the app name now," said a Douyin user.
The anti-fraud application is now the top free app on the App Store in China, ahead of Douyin itself, WeChat and AliPay.
The app ranks top in App Store in China.
The app is both available on Apple's iOS and Android platforms. It requires real identity registration to use it.
Online fraud is a serious problem. Policeman Chen wants to promote the application through "innovative methods" at weekends. He is a police officer in Qinhuangdao City in Hebei Province.
China has the world's largest number of Internet and smartphone users, which makes the country a target of online fraud. In the first five months, the police settled more than 114,000 such cases, helping people recover 99.1 billion yuan (US$15.4 billion).
China's biggest online security firm, 360, said it received 606 smartphone crime reports in the first quarter, with each victim losing an average 14,611 yuan (US$2,265).
Fraud is most common in finance, dating, online shopping and job-seeking services, through the use of leaked personal information, according to 360.
In August, China passed a national private information protection law, the country's first, to prevent businesses collecting sensitive personal data and to crack down on crimes like online fraud and data theft.
The law will take effect in November.
