Livestreams and video clips are among the measures employed to tackle the problem. Cao Yin reports.

A volunteer from Jiangsu University of Science and Technology helps promote greater awareness of telecom fraud and network safety in a community in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, on Oct 15. (SHI YUCHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY)

"Have you downloaded the (official) anti-fraud app?"

That's the question Chinese internet users are often asked after a number of police officers joined social media platforms to promote the app and explain the dangers of online fraud.

Dressed in full uniform, Chen Guoping, an officer from Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, has frequently jumped unannounced into livestreams on popular short-video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou in recent months to ask the question and remind livestreaming hosts to be alert to online fraud.

Chen encourages people to download the app, launched by the Ministry of Public Security in March, to help improve their awareness of fraud prevention.

"I decided to introduce the app this way after realizing that many people, such as my mom, watched many short videos and livestreams," he said.

The first anti-fraud video clip he posted received more than 20 million views, while a September livestream attracted about 38 million viewers, according to reports.

Chen said online platforms are more effective than traditional methods－such as distributing anti-fraud pamphlets and visiting communities to explain related laws－as they have no audience limitations and can be seen by more people.

"More views mean more opportunities for us to reduce the possibility of people being deceived," said Chen, whose followers on Douyin, a popular video-sharing platform, had reached more than 4.9 million by the start of last month.

Gao Shan, an officer with the Beijing Public Security Bureau, is well-known for promoting the app and sharing anti-fraud tips on social media. During a recent busy retail period, he had to livestream every two or three days.

In addition to discussing recent cases with another police officer on his livestreams, Gao interacts with the audience, telling viewers how to save evidence if they have been deceived and what to do if they identify swindlers.

So far, his livestreams have gained more than 7 million views. He uses different livestreaming topics to suit different time periods.

"For example, I introduced university-related fraud in June, as the college entrance examination happened that month. When the new school term began in September, I reminded students to be careful about fraudulent texts related to part-time job recruitment," he said.

"During the November/December discount shopping season, I showed people how to avoid online cheats."

A police officer distributes anti-fraud information at the Nanjing South Railway Station in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, on Nov 25. (JI CHUNPENG / XINHUA)

Falling into a trap

Guo Shaomei, from Shanxi province, is one of Gao's viewers. She said it is smart of the police to prevent online fraud in ways that people can easily understand.

The 57-year-old always pays attention to anti-fraud information because she was cheated about a decade ago, when she worked for the finance department of a company in Linfen, Shanxi.

One day, she went to a bank to transfer money to another company. After she had sent 300,000 yuan (about $47,000 today) and was ready to leave, she received a text from what appeared to be an official bank number. The message said the company had changed its bank account, and provided details of a new one.

"I didn't think about it much because I was just finishing the transfer and my fraud awareness was low at the time. So, I believed the message, canceled the previous operation and transferred the money to the 'new' account," Guo said.

"I didn't realize I had been cheated until noon the next day, when the company told me that the money had not arrived in its account. I quickly called the police."

The message was found to have come from a number in Jiangxi province. Thanks to the efforts of police at both ends, the swindler was detained and the money recovered.

"I was lucky, as I didn't suffer a financial loss," Guo said, adding that the experience made her more vigilant about calls and texts from strangers.

A fraudulent website mimicking that of the country's top procuratorate is displayed at an anti-fraud center in Beijing's Daxing district on April 22. (WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY)

Targeted approach

Guo said she is still puzzled by the wide range of frauds, especially those that use personal information.

"When someone phoned and promised to get me a refund on a car purchase, accurately citing my name, ID card number, work address and the time I bought the car, it was hard to disbelieve them," she said.

Gao, the Beijing officer, said swindlers are increasingly using personal information to confuse their targets, adding that many netizens have been cheated due to blind trust and poor risk awareness.

In September, a China Internet Network Information Center report showed that by the end of June, 17.2 percent of netizens had been defrauded online last year.

Meanwhile, data from the Supreme People's Court, the top court, revealed that the sums involved in such fraud reached 35.4 billion yuan last year alone.

As a public hazard, a frequent crime and a problem nationwide, online fraud has attracted the attention of the authorities, including the Ministry of Public Security, because solving the problem relates to public interests, social stability and financial security.

In 2019, the Beijing Public Security Bureau opened a hotline to help people report online cheats. In addition to collecting fraud-related information, officers call victims via the number when they discover that they may have been targeted, asking if they have lost money and reminding them to be alert. The hotline has been expanded nationwide.

Furthermore, every police station in Beijing has been ordered to arrange to have at least one officer to quickly contact residents via the hotline if fraud is suspected, advising them not to transfer money, Gao said.

Police officers work at the anti-fraud center in Daxing. (WANG ZHUANGFEI / CHINA DAILY)

Real vs fake

He said the biggest challenge comes when cheats pretend to be police officers.

For example, on May 10, a woman surnamed Duan in Beijing's Daxing district received a call from someone claiming to be an officer in Wuhan, Hubei province. Duan was told she was the target of a money laundering operation and was asked to work with the police investigation.

"I didn't believe him at first, but after I added his QQ(an instant-messaging tool), and saw he was wearing a uniform and sitting in a room like one in a police station, I got nervous," Duan said. "My first reaction was to exonerate myself, so I trusted him and did what he told me."

On the man's instructions, she set her cellphone to airplane mode and visited a bank to transfer her savings to a "safe account" he had provided.

Though Daxing police quickly tracked the man's phone number, they couldn't contact Duan because her phone was unreachable.

Instead, they contacted her family and ordered officers on duty near Duan's home to look for her.

At around 11 am, Duan's husband, who had linked his cellphone number to Duan's, received a text saying his wife had bought a new cellphone card from a telecommunications center, which helped police locate Duan at a bank near the center. However, initially she ignored them, believing the "Wuhan officer" to be the real police contact.

"I didn't believe the Daxing police until they dialed the fake and exposed his tricks directly to me," Duan said. "They told me that a real police officer would never ask people to work with an investigation via a phone call, nor ask for money to be transferred online."

Stronger measures

To combat online fraud more effectively, the national anti-fraud center－a joint force led by the State Council, China's Cabinet－opened official accounts on five major social media platforms, including Douyin, Kuaishou and WeChat, early last year.

The center regularly publishes micro dramas, short presentations and mini-documentaries about fraud investigations on the platforms to improve people's awareness.

Data from the Ministry of Public Security showed a month-on-month decline in fraud cases from June to September under these stronger, diverse protection efforts.

Although the fight against online fraud has seen success, Gao said measures are being updated to help people identify swindlers more quickly, and he encouraged them to download the anti-fraud app.

In August, Beijing police set up an anti-fraud center at the Capital University of Economics and Business "as we discovered that teachers, who easily gain the trust of students, can stop college-related online fraud more efficiently than we can", Gao said.

He added that similar centers have been established at 10 other universities since last year. "The battle against fraud won't stop," he said.

Contact the writer at caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn