Chinese procuratorates step up crackdown on cybercriminals

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's procuratorates prosecuted 280,000 individuals for various cybercrimes in the first 11 months of 2023, 35.5 percent more than in the same period the year prior, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) said on Friday.

Cases of telecom fraud and related crimes were on the rise, said Ge Xiaoyan, deputy prosecutors-general of the SPP.

New types of cybercrimes that use the metaverse and blockchain as gimmicks continue to emerge, and conventional crimes such as gambling, theft and pyramid schemes have sprawled into cyberspace, Ge said.

Data showed that China's procuratorates prosecuted over 42,000 individuals for telecom and online fraud in the first 11 months of 2023, marking a 63.5 percent year-on-year increase.

During the same period, they indicted over 7,300 individuals for personal information abuse, over 1,300 for crimes of jeopardizing the computer information system security and over 1,400 for online intellectual property rights infringement, respectively.

Procuratorial organs have carried out several special operations to crack down on telecom fraud and other cybercrimes and criminal groups. They also published typical cases to raise awareness of cybercrimes among the public.