Guangdong police detain 6,000 in fraud crackdown

Police across Guangdong province have detained 6,020 suspected telephone fraudsters after cracking 10,230 cases involving telephone fraud and related online crime in the first six months of the year.

The figures represent a year-on-year increase of 37.2 percent and 17.3 percent respectively, according to Liang Ruiguo, political commissar of the Criminal Investigation Bureau with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Public Security.

"The economic losses for the telephone fraud victims is estimated to have been more than 413 million yuan ($63.5 million) from January to June," Liang told a news conference in Guangzhou on Wednesday.