China drafts new law dedicated to fighting phone and online scams that cost victims US$42 billion last year
- Proposed law is being reviewed by top legislature in latest attempt to root out the menace
- Scams cost victims US$42.5 billion in 2020, according to China’s public security ministry
China is drafting a new law to tackle phone and online fraud with an initial version being reviewed by the top legislature, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
The proposed law will be the first dedicated to cracking down on such scams that have troubled its citizens over the years. Authorities handled 41 per cent more cases this year through September from a year earlier, and the number of suspects arrested shot up 116 per cent to 373,000, according to the report.
While the final draft has not been published yet, the legislation will generally cover key areas, including a basic management system of SIM cards, financial and internet accounts, and punishment terms for illegal selling, renting, and lending of those accounts, the Xinhua report said.
01:39
Chinese students in Australia targeted in ‘virtual kidnapping’ scams, police say
A monitoring system across industries and enterprises “with the support of big data” is also a key part of the measures, the report said.
Phone and online scams are a major source of headache for law enforcers, contributing 40 per cent of criminal cases last year, according to the Ministry of Public Security. In 2020 alone, police arrested 361,000 suspects and froze illegal money of more than 272 billion yuan (US$42.5 billion).
Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to root out phone and cyber scams. Local police have broke up 27,000 gangs engaged in SIM card or bank card frauds and punished 450,000 people in a nationwide crackdown over the past 12 months.
The draft law also seeks to bolster international cooperation in combating cross-border phone and cybercrime. China and the neighbouring Southeast Asian countries have detained thousands of suspects, mostly mainland Chinese nationals preying on local residents.
In one operation, a joint task force between Cambodian police and Chinese public security officials last month arrested nearly 200 people, mostly from southwestern Yunnan province. Last February, police from Yinchuan in northwestern Ningxia autonomous region raided a gang based in Myanmar’s Mong Pawk town.
Technology is being increasingly used in fighting cybercrime. An app developed by China’s public security ministry was once the most downloaded in China app stores.
The application, known as the “National Anti-fraud Centre,” is able to filter spam calls and warn users of incoming phone calls from abroad. It ranked as the second most popular free iOS app in China on Wednesday, according to App Annie.
