Resisting investigation
As more fraud cases have been traced to Binyang, the county has become a frequent stop for police around the country conducting investigations. "Except for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, police from all other provincial level regions have visited Binyang," goes one local joke.
Xiao Shan (pseudonym), a cyber police officer, said the longest stay he made in Binyang was two months. "In the hotel, the people not speaking the local dialect are almost all plainclothes policemen here for an investigation," Xiao told Southern Weekly.
Whenever he gets the report of a case of cyber fraud, the first place that comes to Xiao's mind is Binyang.
Despite an ongoing crackdown, fraud has become more and more prevalent. Official figures show that there were more than 400,000 cases of telecommunications fraud last year, with a total of 10.7 billion yuan lost, an increase of 33 percent and 7 percent respectively over 2013.
Authorities point to low startup costs and likelihood of being caught, along with light punishments, as the reasons for the increase.
Bank cards bought off of Taobao, Internet services purchased using a fake identity card, rented 3G Internet access points, and second-hand computers are the main tools of the trade.
Due to the difficulty involved in tracing sources and collecting evidence, many cases are left unsolved. Zhao Luo (pseudonym), a cyber police officer, said that fewer than 1 percent of QQ fraud cases are solved. Each year about 80,000 to 100,000 instances of QQ fraud are reported, Zhao was quoted as saying by Southern Weekly.
To curb telecommunications fraud, the Supreme People's Court in 2011 released guidelines calling for severe punishment of telecommunications swindlers.
Chinese law allows for sentences of three years for offenders who swindled 40,000 yuan, with one month added for every 2,000 yuan. If the amount swindled is 200,000 yuan, the offender will be sentenced to 10 years, with an additional month added for every 4,000 yuan.
Two brothers were arrested in Binyang for QQ fraud last year. Police confiscated 12 bank cards from them holding more than 200,000 yuan in total. But the two were only jailed for half a year, as they only admitted having swindled a woman of less than 20,000 yuan, according to an investigative report by CCTV in October last year.
A recent report by the Xiamen-based Straits Herald characterized the fight against swindlers as a fierce battle. After every crackdown, swindlers change their tactics and sharpen their skills. There are also people specializing in developing and selling scams in Binyang, the Straits Herald reported.
In Binyang, there are several villages noted for cyber fraud. Investigations in these villages always run into obstacles. Every stranger entering the villages is questioned and closely followed upon their arrival, in an apparently organized fashion.
At 10 pm on June 26, two police officers from Haining, Zhejiang Province, drove to Kejia village to track down suspects. They soon found themselves surrounded by the whole village. By fleeing, hiding and breaking through a roadblock, the two finally escaped from the village.
Several days later, with more backup, the police finally managed to detain two suspects living in the village.
"Local police told us about the danger. Once, a plainclothes policeman went to the village to investigate. An old lady discovered him and called out to others. Soon villagers crowded around the policeman and beat him, saying that they were beating a thief," Shi Hongjun, one of the two police officers from Haining told CCTV.
Worrying for the children
Rampant fraud in Binyang has been a persistent concern for the local government, as well as many elderly local residents.
Buying luxury cars, building houses and visiting night clubs have been the three main destinations for the swindled money. In 2013, a group of young people went to Nanning and purchased 20 Audi A6s, causing a stir in the county.
On the streets of Binyang, computer markets, gold stores, restaurants and bars and KTVs are everywhere. At night, the KTVs and bars are full of young people.
The nightly spend in one booth can reach up to 2,600 yuan, said one KTV boss surnamed Du. "Most customers are Q kids," Du told the Shanghai Morning Post. And the club's reservations are always fully booked.
"People like me who have endured great hardships always feel put out when we see them spending money like that," lamented Zhang Jinye, the owner of a paper mill in Binyang.
The leather and paper making industries used to be the pride of the county. But in recent years, the plants have either shut down or gone bankrupt.
Young people seldom want to work in plants like Zhang's. Most of his workers are older than 40. When the workers get old and retire, it's hard for him to find new labor.
The local government has tried to develop e-commerce and revive folk culture among young people, and has invited e-commerce experts to come make presentations, held traditional handcraft training classes, and supported ecological tourism. In 2014, the government also delegated the right to host a local cultural festival to civil society groups.
The festival, featuring Binyang's famous "fire dragon dance," has a history of more than 1,000 years. In 2008, it was listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage.
A junior high school teacher surnamed Lu is also worried about the bad impact of the rampant fraud. "Many parents think that education matters little now. Those people who engage in cyber fraud don't have to finish high school, and they earn much more than college graduates, which is affecting the parents' mindset," said Lu.
More and more of his students are dropping out of class. Last year in his class of 45 students, only 8 went on to high school and 17 went to vocational school. He is not sure whether his students are taking part in the cyber swindles. But he worries that the public moral climate is in decline.
According to police officer Xiao Shan, the youngest suspect detained for cyber fraud in Binyang is 13. The boy doesn't like studying; instead he learned how to pull off cyber swindles from his brothers.
Even though he was only 13, he succeeded in swindling money through QQ. He had a ready-made scam strategy and detailed tips on how to practice. All he needed after that was to find a suitable target, and copy and paste.
