Telecom, online fraud cases continue to fall, but vigilance urged

China has seen telecom and online fraud cases decline year-on-year for eight consecutive months since October 2025, a senior police official said on Friday.

Zhu Lei, deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, said at a news conference that authorities have strengthened investigations, industry regulation, technical countermeasures, public education, fraud prevention interventions and international cooperation to combat such crimes.

Telecom and online fraud is a typical form of transnational organized crime and has become a global problem, he said. It also remains a major issue affecting people's sense of security in China.

According to the ministry, since 2025, about 58,000 fraud suspects have been transferred to China through international law enforcement cooperation. Working with relevant countries, China has dismantled large gambling and fraud compounds in Myanmar and Cambodia and captured several major leaders of cross-border gambling and fraud groups. Domestically, police solved 258,000 telecom and online fraud cases in 2025.

Despite recent progress, such crimes remain persistent and recurrent, with cases still occurring frequently, Zhu said.

He warned that instead of contacting victims through phone calls and text messages, fraudsters are increasingly using social networking, short-video livestreaming, e-commerce, lifestyle service and online gaming platforms to post information, interact through comments, send private messages or lure users into chat groups through QR codes. Such online diversion methods account for 66 percent of cases.

Fraudsters are also using lesser-known communication apps to evade early-warning systems. After making initial contact, they often persuade victims to download such apps and use scripted conversations to manipulate them.

Another method involves fraudulent apps with screen sharing and call forwarding functions. Once installed, such apps can give criminals control of a victim's phone, allowing them to obtain bank account information, passwords and verification codes and steal money remotely.

Zhu said criminals are also turning to cash, gold and other valuables to transfer fraud-related funds. As financial controls have tightened, they increasingly persuade victims to withdraw cash or purchase gold, mobile phones, watches and other valuables, then send them to designated locations or hand them over to designated individuals.

Zhang Zheng, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's cybersecurity bureau, said the information and communications sector has strengthened full-chain prevention and control, covering early prevention, real-time interception and follow-up handling.

Since 2025, the sector has conducted inspections on the implementation of the Anti-Telecom and Online Fraud Law and held companies accountable when they failed to fulfill anti-fraud responsibilities.

Authorities have also tightened real-name registration requirements for phone services and carried out special operations targeting illegal sale or rental of phone cards, SIM box devices and activities linked to cross-border telecom fraud. By the end of 2025, nearly 200 million highrisk phone cards and more than 400 million internet accounts linked to fraud had been identified and handled.

Zhang said fraud involving suspicious apps remains prominent, as criminals often lure people into downloading them by scanning QR codes or clicking unknown links. Such apps are highly deceptive and evolve rapidly.

In 2025, authorities issued 41.05 million risk warnings involving 27,000 fraud-related apps detected through monitoring. They also introduced anti-fraud electronic labels for official apps and piloted them in key sectors including finance, securities and government services. The program now covers more than 100 apps, and the number of related counterfeit apps has fallen by more than 90 percent, Zhang said.

The MPS, working with the MIIT, has imposed installation bans on 64,000 fraud-related apps, intercepted 3.6 billion scam calls and 3.3 billion scam text messages, and blocked 8.16 million fraud-related domain names and websites since 2025. In addition, together with the People's Bank of China, authorities stopped or froze payments involving 217.07 billion yuan ($32 billion) in suspected fraud funds.

The MPS released the 2026 edition of its public anti-fraud handbook on Thursday, detailing common fraud schemes and criminal tactics.

Zhu said police will release a new batch of practical anti-fraud tools, as well as typical cases involving joint disciplinary measures against telecom and online fraud and related crimes. Police will also continue antifraud publicity campaigns among communities, rural areas, households, schools and businesses, with community workers, grid managers and volunteers helping carry out targeted education at the grassroots level.