Guangdong police cite anti-telefraud center as reason for 2 years of success

Guangdong police have shut down more than 649,000 telephone numbers across the province that were suspected of being used for telephone fraud and other crimes, after a center to fight telefraud was established in September 2016, according to a statement released by the Guangdong Public Security Department.

"Meanwhile, police have retrieved more than 1.73 billion yuan ($254 million) that had been taken by fraudsters. Of the total, about 210 million yuan and $2 million have been returned to the victims," the statement said.

In the first nine months alone, police across the province detained 8,370 suspected telephone fraudsters after cracking more than 16,000 cases, the statement said.