Experts: Public must boost awareness about scams

Security experts and legal officials are calling for telecom fraud to be tackled at its origins, while stressing the importance of risk prevention and raising public awareness about the threat.

A recent Supreme People's Procuratorate report showed a noticeable increase in telecom fraud prosecutions and associated crimes during the first 10 months of 2023.

The report underscored the need to strengthen the development and implementation of big data supervisory models for the detection of fraud. This supervision will help in the identification of significant risks in susceptible areas such as telecommunications, finance and the internet.

The report advocates collaboration between the procuratorate and other departments to assist entities and enterprises in addressing operational vulnerabilities.

Emphasizing the importance of concentrating efforts on regions, industries and demographics with higher risks of fraud, the report recommends ongoing anti-fraud public education through various means. Establishing a robust anti-fraud awareness among the public is essential, it added.

Liu Jie, deputy head of the Police Association of China, said telecom fraud has become a significant crime affecting social security and posing the most substantial threat to people's lives and property.

Cross-border telecom fraud, while leaving traces online, presents challenges when it comes to on-site evidence collection and the apprehension of suspects, and cross-border law enforcement activities require cooperation between countries. Prosecuting such cases is also challenging due to the need for a complete chain of evidence, he said.

However, combating telecom fraud is not the sole responsibility of law enforcement agencies and requires the active participation of the broader society to establish a comprehensive system for prevention, control and management of such crimes, he said.

In November, the Ministry of Public Security issued a draft of the Joint Disciplinary Measures for Telecom Fraud and Related Crimes to solicit public opinions. Graded punishments for telecom scammers and entities in the sectors of finance, telecom networks and credit are included in the draft.

Disciplinary measures will be imposed based on the severity of the offenses. For instance, a disciplinary period of three years will be imposed on individuals held criminally responsible for telecom fraud and related crimes, according to the draft.

Pei Wei, a professor at Beihang University's Law School, said at a recent forum on the challenges of combating telecom fraud, that the government is taking a comprehensive approach by targeting each link related to the crime.

The Ministry of Public Security's draft joint disciplinary measures are intended for "front-end governance" of telecom fraud. A series of industry norms have emerged around telecom fraud, which emphasizes the main responsibility of network service providers in combating the issue, she said.

One of the most challenging aspects of stopping telecom fraud is its international dimension. Fraudsters often transfer criminal organizations, equipment and funds overseas to evade Chinese investigative authorities. Traditional criminal proceedings are limited by territorial jurisdictions, and fraudsters exploit the fact that Chinese investigators cannot directly conduct investigations and evidence collection abroad, Pei said.

As digital and social networks continue to evolve, cross-border criminal activities are expected to become more common, intensifying the challenges to the traditional legal framework, she said.

"In recent years, there have been positive explorations at the international level regarding cross-border investigations and evidence collection for cybercrimes, an area where our future participation needs strengthening," she said.

Telecom fraud scams are diverse, constantly evolving, and encompass wide-ranging domains. As technology advances, criminal tactics and organizational forms are also being upgraded and pose more challenges.

Pei highlighted the importance of the government's need to keep pace with technological developments and anticipate criminal intentions in the fight against telecom fraud.

"Governance efforts are striving to move preventive measures to the forefront, and the aim is to control telecom fraud at the source," she said.

Comprehensive governance of the telecom fraud chain will remain a primary strategy in the future. This involves coordination between different departments and domains and imposing higher requirements for regulation, she said.