Chinese police caught 19,345 telecom fraud suspects in 2016, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) on Wednesday.
The SPP increased efforts to crack down on telecom and Internet fraud and supervised the handling of 62 major telecom and Internet fraud cases last year.
The cases included one that allegedly triggered the death of Xu Yuyu, a high school graduate in Shandong Province, who died of cardiac arrest after losing her tuition money to telecom fraud, the SPP said.
In May 2016, the SPP issued a circular urging procuratorates at all levels to tighten crackdowns on telecom and Internet fraud.
The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) destroyed a transnational telecom fraud gang in Cambodia, catching 39 suspects and paying compensation of more than 360,000 yuan (52,173 U.S. dollars)to 21 victims.
The SPP and the MPS have issued a joint guideline on such cases explaining punishment and case management for telecom and Internet fraud crimes.
