​Police effectively curb spread of online gang-related crimes

Police nationwide have busted 400 criminal gangs involved in organized crimes committed via the internet and have resolved 8,800 of such cases, effectively curbing the spread of online gang-related crimes, said the Ministry of Public Security.

In August 2022, the ministry and eight other central departments launched an 18-month operation to target organized crimes committed via the internet and notable results have been achieved in the initial stage, according to the ministry.

The ministry asked public security organs nationwide to intensify the crackdown on organized crimes committed via the internet at a teleconference held on Thursday and warned them to attach great importance to the trend of organized crimes spreading to cyberspace.

This spreading trend is becoming serious and the public security organs must clearly recognize the harm brought by the trend, it said.

The crackdown on gang-related crimes online should be a part of the ongoing special campaign fighting against organized crime. The public security organs should cooperate with other departments to ensure that all crackdown measures are fully implemented, it said.

The crackdown should focus on crimes such as extortion via naked chatting records, online loan-related fraud, using soft violence to collect illegal online loans, making malicious claims, blackmailing via negative news and online ghostwriting.

The police should intensify investigation into targeted cases, make every effort to recover stolen goods and restore damage, and efficiently arrest criminals involved in such cybercrimes so as to resolutely curb the occurrence of such cases, said the ministry.