Police team up with Tencent to target online fraud

Police in Guangdong province have detained more than 100 suspects as part of a campaign to combat online fraud.

Investigators have frozen 190 bank accounts containing a total of more than 51 million yuan ($7.66 million) in illicit funds, according to Lu Feng, deputy director of the Guangdong Public Security Department.

A large number of computers, bank cards and mobile phones were also seized, he added.

Guangdong police set up a task force in April after Tencent reported a large number of people had been scammed after downloading a smartphone app. A crackdown code-named Anwang-6 was launched in June.

“Victims of online fraud should contact the police and cooperate with the authorities,” Lu said.

In the first six months of this year, police across Guangdong investigated 1,709 cases and detained 6,400 suspects during six targeted campaigns.

Some 178 organized online fraud gangs were busted and more than 390 million pieces of stolen personal data were discovered.

Tang Jinhuai, deputy general manager of Tencent’s security management department, said the tech company will further expand cooperation with the police to fight online fraud.