Authorities declare war on cybercriminals

Judicial bodies are determined to combat the growing threat posed by internet — and telecom-based swindlers. Yang Zekun reports.

The three young men in Shanghai never thought they would be found by the police so quickly — just one day after they provided technical support for telecom and online swindlers who were based overseas.

The men wanted to make easy money by offering the swindlers support, but they didn't make a cent.

Instead, earlier this month, they were each fined 5,000 yuan ($715) for violating a new law aimed at fighting telecom and online fraud.

Since the law took effect on Dec 1, police in many cities have issued fines to people involved in related crimes.

The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China — presented by Xi Jinping on behalf of the 19th CPC Central Committee and approved by the 20th CPC National Congress in October — ordered authorities to take comprehensive measures to promote law and order and use all legal means to crack down on a range of illegal and criminal activities that have caused grave public concern.

Authorities, from the central government and top legislature to judicial departments, have refined the prevention and control mechanism and legal system to combat telecom fraud. New kinds of crime, telecom fraud being a prime example, are now the most dominant forms of such illegality in China, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

Jiang Guoli, deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau at the ministry, said that the rapid development of information technology in recent years has brought significant changes to the criminal structure. That has seen traditional types of crime falling while new network-related felonies have entered the criminal mainstream and become an important challenge for the nation's public security organs.