Authority warns against fraudulent websites

BEIJING - China's National Bureau of Corruption Prevention (NBCP), the national anti-graft authority, on Thursday issued warnings against fraudulent websites engaged in illegal activities in the name of the NBCP.

The NBCP, directly sponsored by the State Council, China's Cabinet, has only one official website, www.nbcp.gov.cn, and hasn't set up any local branches or issued work licenses to personnel with any fraudulent agencies, the bureau said in a statement.

Some websites have recently claimed to serve national anti-corruption agencies, leading people to wrongly believe the websites were associated with the NBCP.

"These websites have disturbed the NBCP's normal working order, " the statement said.

The NBCP has no relation to any of these websites or relevant organizations, and it reserves the right to resort to judicial means to punish those conducting fraudulent activities in the name of the NBCP, according to the statement.

Chinese authorities have closed 89 websites for fraudulent activities in the name of government organs or charity groups since March this year, according to figures from the State Internet Information Office (SIIO).

Some operators of these websites fabricated negative news stories and threatened to post them online if the organizations or individuals targeted didn't pay hush money, according to the SIIO.