Police bust hospital registration scalper ring in cybercrime crackdown

BEIJING -- China's police authority Thursday exposed a typical case it has dealt with in a special campaign against online crimes involving the scalping of illegally-obtained hospital registration quotas.

Upon reports from the public, police in Beijing launched an investigation in December last year and found that a criminal ring had used malicious software to evade the authentication system of an official online platform for hospital registration, amassed appointment quotas and sold them for profit, said Zhang Hongye, vice head of the online security department of the Ministry of Public Security, at a press conference.

Four major suspects have been captured in January, Zhang said, adding that through further police investigation another four suspects have been detained for making and spreading the malicious software.

Zheng Hao, an officer with the Beijing police's online security force, pledged enhanced cooperation with the municipal health authority and the registration platform to continue the crackdown on relevant violations, in a bid to maintain the order of the hospital registration system and ensure the public's fair access to medical services.