SHENZHEN police busted a criminal ring recently that cheated a total of 23 million yuan (US$3.5 million) in commission fees by pretending to operate online shops for others.

    In the action June 13, Shenzhen police sent 1,100 officers and detained 253 suspects, a news conference of Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department said Monday. Longhua police received reports from some online shop owners beginning in July 2015 saying two consulting companies may be involved in fraud.

    A man surnamed Yu, a native of Sichuan Province, owned a Taobao online shop. He paid the Guangminfa consulting company 40,000 yuan to promote his business, but found no change in his business. The consulting company charges 100,000 yuan yearly and 40,000 yuan in the first quarter.

    A criminal ring headed by Jiang, Xiong and Gu registered more than 20 companies and put advertisements on search engines, claiming they could operate other people’s shops to promote their business. The advertisements falsely claimed they had operated several well-known online shops.

    To win trust from online shop owners, the suspects faked certificates and awards.

    “They promise high economic returns to shop owners and trick them into signing a contract. But after the owners pay service fees, they use different excuses to not follow the contracts,” said Su Zhenwei, deputy chief with the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau. Su said the group threatened to physically attack shop owners after shop owners asked for a refund.

    Statistics show the ring signed more than 4,000 contracts since January 2014.

    Police ask for those victims to call 0755-85135114, the phone number of the police task force, to report crimes of the suspects.

    (Han Ximin)