China arrests more than 9,000 telecom fraud suspects

BEIJING  -- A total of 9,432 suspects involved in telecom swindles have been arrested, China's police authorities said Thursday.

Among them, 953 suspects were taken overseas in joint operations with police counterparts in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, according to a statement released after an inter-ministerial meeting.

The Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began a campaign against new types of telecom crime in November last year to crack down on the fast growing crime.

Direct economic losses of 160 million yuan ($24.5 million dollars) has been recovered since the campaign began.

Anti-fraud centers set up across the country are collaborating with banks, telecom companies and e-commerce businesses to combat the crime wave. Police and commercial banks are establishing an information sharing system.

The campaign will last until the end of the year.