Pudong police net 91 for telecoms fraud

Police in the Pudong New Area have nabbed 91 people suspected of being part of a telecoms scam gang which swindled victims out of more than 30 million yuan (US$4.47 million), officers said.

By the end of June, 81 of the suspects have been put under police detention.

According to police, they received a clue about a group targeting Pudong from neighboring Jiangsu Province when Jiangsu police were handling a similar scam there. 

After investigation, police noticed that a company in Zhoupu Town exhibited some "abnormal" operation. When they visited a second time the next day, the office was empty and some “scam plots” and records of calls were left behind.

Police soon traced the company's owner, surnamed Zhe, and his assistant, surnamed Chen, and located its three offices in other areas.

On June 22, police raided the three offices and netted 88 suspects involved in the scam, with more than 120 cellphones seized at the sites. Over 80 computer hard disks and some account books they used for recording victims’ information and deals were also seized.

Zhu and the other gang members pleaded guilty and told police they started cheating money from their victims in March this year. They asked operators to add the customers into some WeChat groups where other members, who claimed to be experts or anchors, were exchanging investment information. After the victims downloaded an app they recommended, they manipulated the app and led victims to believe their investments had failed and caused a loss.

Data collected by the city’s anti-online-telecoms-fraud center show that in the first half of the year, the number of cases related to telecoms fraud tackled by police increased by 51 percent over the same period last year, while the number of suspects caught in such cases saw an increase of 183 percent.

So far this year, Pudong police have prevented more than 1,600 telecoms scams, officers claim.