Police bust gang for SMS fraud

Dalian police cracked a gang of 14 who were allegedly involved in fraud by sending out fake text messages from mobile base stations, Dalian Evening News reported.

A mobile base station, comprised of a host computer, a laptop and a signal transmitter, is often used in telecommunications fraud.

Criminal suspects often take a set into a car and turn it on in crowded downtown areas. They can use any number, including customer service numbers of banks or telecom companies, to send bulk SMS to all mobile phone users within a certain radius area.

Since this October, more than 10 message fraud cases were reported in Dalian, involving nearly 1 million yuan ($164,100).

On Oct 13, a woman surnamed Deng received a message from the "Industrial and Commerce Bank of China", informing her to update her information online. She entered the website from the message and input her card number and password and other personal information.

She reported to the police that night after finding more than 30,000 yuan was transferred out of her card.

The police warned mobile phone users to double check when they receive messages involving their bank accounts and personal information.