A series of telecom frauds hit the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, Fujian province, resulting in a direct economic loss of more than 1.3 million yuan ($209,690) in the first quarter of 2013, according to local police.

In the latest telecom fraud case revealed by the police, a woman surnamed Wen in Pingtan's Tancheng town lost 305,000 yuan on March 29 to a swindler who pretended to be her brother on QQ (a popular online message service in China). On the same day, a woman surnamed You was defrauded of 323,700 yuan in a medicare scam.

Fraudsters usually pretend to be officials from governments and law enforcement departments with network technology, or relatives and friends of victims. The police are reminding residents to be vigilant and aware of malicious tricks.

Uneducated middle-aged women are most likely to be singled out, said experts.

Pingtan was not alone in the storm of telecom frauds as Anxi county in Quanzhou and Sanming city in Fujian province also reported a number of fraud cases recently. Police in the province have sent special teams to warn people against popular telecom frauds.

Personal information should not be given out, the police suggested.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai