THE city launched a special operation to crack down on telecom and online fraud, with real-name registration to be required for Internet access in pilot areas and suspicious QQ and WeChat accounts to be monitored, the Daily Sunshine reported Thursday.

    The city police launched a special operation against illegal telecom and online practices in August last year, and the operation will continue until the end of this year, according to a joint meeting held by the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau on Wednesday.

    City police have established a control and prevention system against suspicious bank accounts embroiled in telecom fraud.

    “Commercial banks are required to step up supervision on involved accounts and terminate money transfers above 10,000 yuan (US$1,536) into or out of these accounts,” said Su Zhenwei, deputy head of the municipal public security bureau.

    A new mechanism will be introduced by the bureau this year to recognize and intervene in money transactions through suspicious accounts based on bank data analysis, and transfers into these accounts will be delayed.

    The city will put in place real-name registration for broadband Internet users and record their IP addresses in pilot areas.

    “The new practice will be introduced in pilot areas by Sept. 30, and it will be expanded to the whole city before the end of this year,” Su said.

    The bureau is working on new measures to block and trace the sources of recorded calls made by fraudsters from overseas, and phone numbers being blacklisted will be monitored or closed.

    An interception system will be launched by the bureau to block stolen QQ and WeChat accounts being used by swindlers, and QQ and WeChat accounts with virtual IP addresses will be shut down if any fraud-related keywords are used in chats.

    The Shenzhen Office of China Banking Regulatory Commission will include anti-fraud practices in banks’ performance appraisals. The number of telecom fraud cases filed on Dec. 31 was 11,213 last year in Shenzhen, a double-digit decrease over five successive months.

    (Zhang Yang)