3,500 suspects captured in China's 'asset unfreezing' fraud crackdown

BEIJING -- A total of 3,589 suspects have been captured and 284 fraud criminal groups busted so far this year in China's crackdown on scams of "unfreezing national fortune left long ago by Chinese," according to a Ministry of Public Security press conference on Thursday.

A total of 623 million yuan ($88.95 million) involved in the fraud cases has been frozen by authorities.

In typical asset unfreezing scams, criminals fabricate stories of huge fortunes left by Chinese from centuries or decades ago and trick people into contributing initial capital or membership fees to unfreeze the legacies for so-called poverty alleviation, charity or investment programs.

The fraud is often conducted via social media and online payment platforms.