Chinese police crack telecom fraud aimed at ROK citizens

Police in five provinces have arrested 235 suspects, including 51 from the Republic of Korea (ROK), for allegedly perpetrating acts of transnational telecom fraud aimed at ROK residents.

The group allegedly conducted over 1,200 fraudulent activities that involved more than 100 million yuan (15.7 million U.S. dollars), according to a statement released Friday by the Ministry of Public Security.

The group, according to the ministry, hired ROK nationals and Korean-speaking Chinese to randomly call people in the ROK while pretending to be personnel from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul.

The fraudsters would then inform their victims that their bank accounts had allegedly been involved in money-laundering activity, persuading them to submit their bank account information online. Money from the victims' accounts was then wired to accounts set up in ROK banks for cash withdrawal or further transfers.

Friday's case shares many similarities with another fraud case revealed just one day ago, in which Chinese police seized 208 suspects for allegedly withdrawing money from ROK residents' bank accounts using counterfeit ATM cards.

"As our country's crackdown on fraudulent activity intensifies, telecom fraud groups based on the Chinese mainland have shown a tendency to switch their targets from mainland and Taiwan residents to those in the ROK, Thailand and other foreign countries in an attempt to avoid investigation," the statement said.

An unnamed official said the ministry will maintain a high-profile crackdown on telecom fraud.

"Chinese police will resolutely hunt down criminals in accordance with laws and regulations, provided they are operating within our jurisdiction," the official said.