On 24 Feb. 2025, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released eight typical cases related to telecom and online fraud and associated crimes, underscoring the intensified crackdowns on such offenses.
The series of cases involves crimes such as fraud, illegal border crossings, money laundering, and the sale of personal information, shedding light on new operating models used by criminal groups.
For instance, in Case No.3, two defendants, Xiao and another individual, lured, solicited, and recruited minors into telecom fraud schemes. They falsely advertised a so-called “mobile phone project”, claiming that participants only needed two mobile phones and could make money without doing anything, and enticed minors who lacked the ability to distinguish between right and wrong to participate in the implementation of the fraud. The defendants first bought SIM cards from underage individuals and then organized minors to make scam calls, providing direct assistance to fraudsters and sharing illegal profits. The court found them guilty of fraud with aggravating circumstances and sentenced them to 4.5 and 5.5 years in prison, respectively.
According to the SPC’s 2024 Work Report,Chinese courts concluded 31,000 telecom fraud cases involving 64,000 individuals in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 48.4%.
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