Tencent calls for credible platform to fight internet fraud

To combat internet fraud, Chinese internet giant Tencent called on the government to establish a credible platform for related companies and banks to share databases, which can be used for finding fraudulent activity.

"Since internet fraud has developed into a mature business chain, a single company or only police cannot successfully fight it alone," Tencent Chairman and CEO Ma Huateng said on Wednesday at a conference in Beijing.

Ma said the black industry, telecommunication and internet fraud, illegally obtains databases of people's personal information and makes fraudulent phone calls or uses malicious apps to cheat them out of money.

They are so "professional" that they even make customized plans to deceive their targets after analyzing the information with advanced technology.

"Therefore, sharing databases of telecom companies, banks and internet companies, and analyzing them can help find out what trick the fraud is playing," Ma said.

But he added that related companies and banks are worried their databases cannot be protected.

"If the government initiates to establish an official platform, they might dispel their worries," Ma said.

According to Zhu Jinsong, a manager at Tencent responsible for fighting fraud, about 800 million people in China use their products, mainly the popular instant messaging app WeChat and QQ.

"We conduct big data analysis for users' activities everyday to find fraud suspects who are threatening people's financial safety," said Zhu.

With databases and analyzing technology of its own, Tencent has helped police crack down on 110 fraud cases which involved half a billion yuan ($72 million) this year.

But Tencent alone cannot fight it all, according to Zhu.

For the first 11 months this year, 930,000 telecom and internet fraud cases were found throughout the country, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

In these cases, more than 520,000 criminals were involved and the fraudulent activities might have caused victims to lose 4.87 billion yuan ($703 million).

"Uniting all parties concerned is a fundamental way to deal with telecom and internet fraud," said Chen Shiqu, a deputy inspector at the criminal investigation department of the Ministry of Public Security.