Chinese police detain over 200 suspects in telecom, online fraud

CHENGDU -- Police in the city of Leshan, Southwest China's Sichuan province, have detained more than 200 suspects in an alleged telecom and online fraud case concerning a fake stock and futures trading platform.

More than 10 million yuan involved in the case have been frozen, according to the city's public security bureau. The case involves funds totaling 130 million yuan.

In April, a victim surnamed Liu reported to the local police that she had been cheated 360,000 yuan by a fake stock and futures trading platform.

Liu said she received a phone call claiming to be an investment consulting company which could recommend stocks for her for free. The victim then joined a group chat on China's social media platform WeChat and a live-streaming room where so-called experts regularly recommended promising stocks and futures.

The suspects then provided a fake trading platform through which they manipulated prices of futures and lured Liu into more investment and cheated all her money.

After a thorough investigation, the police made arrests in provinces including Guangdong, Jiangxi, Liaoning and Yunnan, detaining more than 200 suspects.

Police said the scammers would provide a fake trading platform and manipulate prices of stocks and futures. The suspects would tell the victims that they have suffered huge losses and steal their money.

China has stepped up efforts to fight against telecom fraud in recent years. Sichuan police have cracked 1,757 telecom and online fraud cases and frozen one billion yuan of fraudulent money so far this year.