Police bust gangs committing fraud through GoIP

Police raided more than 600 sites accused of providing GoIP calling services for telecom and online fraud gangs in a recent nationwide sting, seizing about 4,590 mobile phones, computers and other equipment, according to a release from the Ministry of Public Security issued on Thursday.

Since a previous operation launched in October 2020 to prevent fraud gangs from illegally registering and using mobile phone cards, bank cards and internet accounts, similar gangs overseas have had difficulty obtaining mobile phone cards in China to commit crimes.

Furthermore, the public has taken more precautions, and it has become easier to detect when overseas telephone numbers are being used to commit fraud, the ministry said.

Still, police recently found that more and more overseas fraud gangs have used the promise of large sums of money to recruit Chinese citizens to facilitate simplified GoIP services via mobile phones. The fraudsters then use remote control software to use these phones to call and scam people, it said.

The ministry mobilized investigative teams across the country to conduct in-depth research on the emerging problem. They discovered that a large number fraud crimes involving GoIP were being committed, and this led to the launch of the recent crackdown, an official with the ministry said.

Public security organs will continue to launch regional or nationwide stings to crack down on telecom and online fraud and related crimes. The public should also enhance their awareness of these crimes and be careful with cold calls, the official said.