Nation ups ante against telecom fraud

Domestic Governance

Domestic cyber black-gray industries act as the "accomplices" of telecom fraud. They supply fraud rings with key resources like personal data, bulk-registered social accounts, mobile phone numbers and bank accounts, business licenses and corporate accounts, enabling identity concealment and regulatory evasion.

Additionally, some drive traffic for fraud on various platforms and promote scam scripts to expand coverage. Others launder proceeds via numerous personal accounts or convert illicit funds into virtual currencies for cross-border transfers, dodging fund supervision and tracking.

Targeting such illegal networks, Chinese authorities in 2025 ordered in-depth investigations, and successive cluster and regional operations, to clean up fraud-linked activities, including promotion, money transfer and laundering.

Front-line operations exemplified this resolve. In May, the police of Hongkou district, Shanghai, uncovered a telecom fraud ring led by a suspect named Wang. Posing as an external instructor at a local college, Wang lured students to register and activate phone cards, then had them assist overseas fraud groups by "driving traffic" for telecom scams.

The "traffic driving" method involved using one phone to connect with the overseas fraud group via a messaging app on speakerphone, while another newly registered phone called the victim, also on speakerphone, enabling the fraud group to communicate with the victim remotely.