A total of 171 suspects have been arrested for telecom fraud involving more than 20 million yuan (3 million U.S. dollars), police in east China's Shanghai Municipality said Monday.
The group was busted on Wednesday in the neighboring province of Jiangsu. Over 100 police officers from Shanghai launched the raid with the help of local police.
According to police investigations, members of the fraud ring randomly called people and notified them they had won five "collectibles" worth more than 70,000 yuan, which included a jade lion, an agalwood bracelet and a limited edition renminbi note.
But the receiver needed to pay nearly 10,000 yuan in "taxes," "registration fees" and "membership fees" before they could claim the prizes. The investigation showed the actual value of those so-called "collectibles" was only about 1,000 yuan combined.
More than 350 people from several provinces were tricked in November alone, police said.
Two organizers, 45 and 29, confessed they had organized more than 160 "telephone operators" and collected 20.14 million yuan in illegal gains since 2015.
Police have closed down the warehouse storing the "collectibles" and froze bank accounts containing 8.71 million yuan.
