Xiamen Determined to Root out Electronic Fraud

Wan Li

A coast city in Fujian province， Xiamen boasts well-developed financial and telecommunications industries， and initiated a campaign against telecom fraud earlier than many other regions in China. In June 2015， Xiamen established a counter-fraud center that coordinates the efforts of the public security department， the banking system， and telecommunication operators under the guidance of its municipal government. The city also created the Xiamen Anti-Fraud Model featuring interdepartmental cooperation and digital countermeasures. In the era of big data， the popularity of social media and e-payment has lured telecom and cyber fraud to the Internet.

The Xiamen Public Security Bureau （hereafter referred to as the XPSB） has always believed fraud control an effective effort to build Xiamen into the safest city in China. Following the principle of early precaution and speedy response， the XPSB set up the Center for Combating and Tackling Telecom and Cyber Infringements and Crimes （hereafter referred to as the Center） in 2019 with multiple functions such as crime prevention and combat， supervision and publicity. The Center prioritizes the application of smart technologies including big data， which helps to raise alarms accurately and initiate interceptions， building a strong shied to protect people from financial loss.

Three-tiered Anti-fraud “Cloud System”

“A series of scam messages sent in the name of the Construction Bank of China were identified along Zhongshan Road. Telecommunication Interception Group， please follow the case.” “A citizen reported that he had been cheated by a self-proclaimed acquaintance 15 minutes ago. Transaction Blockage Group， please verify the case and initiate the emergent payment blocking mechanism when necessary.” With the 2021 International Labor Day holiday approaching， swindlers saw “business opportunities.” Staff of the Center， which covers over 100 square meters， were busy answering phone calls， typing， and trotting back and forth to examine information while directives， classified alarms and run charts of reports were displayed on the big screen in rotation. The battle against fraud was tense.

“Some parents of my students received phone calls from somebody who pretended to be a teacher of our kindergarten！” This case was reported to the Center via the special hotline 96110 amid conversations. On that afternoon， a scammer used the head teachers alias and profile photo and sent a file titled Notice on School Holiday and Tuition Fee for the Next Semester in a QQ group chat for parents. Also attached was a bank account that said to be registered under the name of the accountant of the school and the parents were asked to transfer payments to this account via mobile banking systems. Five parents from the group chat had received the cheaters calls in only 15 minutes.

“Before school holidays， parents will receive various notifications in group chats. Some frauds will take this opportunity， join the group chats， and set up scams.” Hong Hengliang， a police officer at the Center， told the correspondent that in order to protect people from financial loss， they will raise alarms about common schemes to branch bureaus and local police stations across Xiamen through WeChat group chats and post them on its official Weibo account; in the meantime， warnings will be released on local TV and newspapers.

Police deployment varies with cases. Identification and interception of fraud hold the key to case settlement. Therefore， in order to raise alarms and stop transactions in time， the XPSB has suspended the previous organizational structure， mobilized all police resources from the municipal bureau and branch bureaus to local police stations and established a Three-Tiered Anti-Fraud “Cloud System” for Joint Response. It has also optimized case handling procedures and improved the effectiveness of information dissemination with a view to winning the race against time.

“The Center serves as the ‘brain of the Anti-Fraud ‘Cloud System for Joint Response.” Chen Yuhuang， Vice Mayor and Head of the XPSB， said that 50% of the Criminal Investigation Units forces and other elite policemen have been deployed to the Center in the four groups of comprehensive coordination， report receiving and handling， analysis and response， and technological support. They can deal with reports， analyze data， release early warnings， carry out prevention and control measures， screen information and investigate evidence， and solve major cases. It has created a whole-process， full-chain and closed-loop working mechanism.

How to make the most of the “brain” to deliver the best outcomes？

Chen explained it with a vivid metaphor： the Center gives instructions as the “brain，” branch bureaus work as the skeleton that connect all departments at all levels， and local police stations serve as the hands and feet that respond swiftly to different situations. Each of three levels undertakes its responsibilities， and cooperates with one another closely.

Branch bureaus in Xiamen have each established counter-fraud squads， which are charged with fraud-related affairs such as investigating and collecting evidence， narrowing down targets， and dismantling criminal hideouts. Meanwhile， they supervise the police stations in their administrations to implement targeted precaution measures such as early-warning and persuasion， and encourage the public to participate in anti-fraud programs. As the terminals to local communities， police stations should be fully aware of the local security conditions， organize community workers and volunteers to disseminate anti-fraud policies and practices， and carry out targeted persuasion.

Underpinned by the three-tiered system， the Center screens each suspicious case from the perspective of information， capital， and Internet， categorizes the situation into one of the four levels：  emergent， high-risk， medium-risk， or low-risk， and send directives to the squads or police stations for further investigation and handling. Such flat organizational structure ensures that criminals are kept away from the Internet， frauds are preempted，  ongoing cases are detected， and regulations are strengthened.

Furthermore， the XPSB has streamlined the publicity mechanism by establishing a network of media， online platforms and public resources to ensure prompt release of information about emergent cases， setting up an information pool updated every two weeks. Local police stations have access to such a variety of combined information that they are better oriented and more effective in their daily work.

Preemptive “Anti-fraud Radar”

This campaign is a dynamic one against the fraud industry. The countermeasures must be upgraded continuously to rein in the ever-evolving crimes.

How to sort out the potential targets faster than the criminals expectations and take interceptive measures remains a pressing problem.

“The XPSB gives priority to the application of science and technologies. It has built an analysis and early-warning model based on AI， cloud computing， and big data technologies to identify and warn the potential targets.” Said Lü Peiqin， Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the XPSB. To be specific， the model resembles a “radar system，” which assists the police to screen autonomously for people who are more prone to be set up and determine the risk levels precisely， so that the police can come up with the following measures.

Ye Xufeng， Head of the Technological Support Group， told the correspondent proudly that the Center had autonomously spotted a potential victim lately. However， the police could not reach the person by phone for quite some time and then the calls were transferred.

The system raised a high-risk alarm immediately. Shortly after receiving the instruction， the Analysis and Response Group requested the local police officers to stop the transaction， saving over 200，000 yuan.

Its worth mentioning that thanks to the strong statistical analysis ability and rich resources of the big data system， Xiamen has put forward a new statistical standard that covers all kinds of reports in relation to telecom and cyber fraud and the total sum of money involved， which means that every single penny that was rooked will be counted in. Therefore， “the number of cases，” one of the indicators in anti-fraud evaluation， has been replaced with “the number of reports，” thus drawing as many police forces and resources as possible into the campaign.

Online investigation and examination of the big data system works as a scanning radar that can quickly spot the hidden “landmines，” and those “landmines” must be defused before they explode. The working mechanism of early targeted warning and exhortation provides a trustworthy approach to dispose of the “explosives.”

“Trust me， madam. Im a policeman！” In March 2020， police officer Liu Ziqiang from the Huli Police Station received a report from a bank clerk saying that “a woman seems to be scammed and she is making a transaction.” Liu rushed to the scene immediately and found a Ms. Li confirming the banking account with her “boyfriend” on WeChat. Making sure that the transaction hadnt been delivered， Liu tried to stop the transaction. But Li was totally lost in the sweet talks and refused to listen to Liu. She was confident that she was transferring money to her “boyfriend.”

Liu found out that Li lived all by herself in Xiamen， and he could not contact her families to dissuade her. He could do nothing but report it to the Center. Then the bank clerks， Liu and police officers from the Center talked to her for almost an hour before she finally changed her mind.

To ensure that “no victim is left behind，” the Center has devised more effective and forceful measures besides the traditional means like making phone calls and sending text messages. All police officers are required to talk to each potential target in person. Hence mild warnings have turned into tough interception. It has graded warning messages into four categories： emergent， high-risk， medium-risk， and low-risk in line with the severity of cases， rolled out relevant responsive procedures， time frames， and multiple measures of dissuasion. All these have delivered much better results.

Hu Jianyue， Head of the Report Receiving and Handling Group， introduced that the Center sends emergent warnings to police stations in the form of 110 directives and police officers will deal with them on the basis of existing standards. When receiving high-risk warnings， police officers should meet the potential victims within 24 hours， the municipal bureau and corresponding branch bureaus should analyze and investigate the cases by technological means to ensure that the targeted people can be reached; for medium- and low-risk warnings， local police stations will ask community workers and volunteers to meet these people within three days and seven days respectively.

“In the past， anti-fraud activities were carried out extensively but aimlessly because we didnt know who to protect. So a lot of efforts ended up in vain. In contrast， with a clear target， the general situation has been controlled and fraud-related reports have dropped significantly.” Said Cai Jidong， Head of the Jiangtou Police Station.

In order to urge all parties concerned to fulfill their responsibilities， the XPSB has made it an imperative to investigate the four kinds of situations： cases with large sums of money involved， community-based high-incidence cases， area-based high-incidence cases， and cases in which the police fail to exhort. Any police unit that dishonors its duty will be punished and reported by the municipal bureau or the branch bureau.

In 2020， the Xiamen police prevented 106，000 people in high-risk conditions from financial loss， which accounted for 99.93% of the total number， and helped to save 909 million yuan; while most of the places in China saw double-digit increases in fraud-related reports， Xiamens figure reduced by 24.96%， one of few cities to have a drop in such figures.

A Strong Shield Against Fraud

The anti-fraud campaign is not only a tenacious fight against headwinds， but also a war of the people united to defend public security and social order.

As early as 2015， Xiamen set up a municipal-level anti-fraud center， where professionals from the public security department， the banking sector， telecommunication sector， and Internet companies carried out interdepartmental collaboration with a specialized system. At present， the three major telecommunication operators and five major commercial banks in Xiamen have their presence in the Center. Now， thirteen banks， eight major express-delivery companies， fifteen Internet companies and 29 non-bank payment agencies are working in tandem with each other in the Center.

According to the Deputy Director of the XPSB Huang Weidong， Xiamen regards its anti-fraud campaign as a touchstone of modernizing its governance system and capacity. The city has included， from the broader perspective of social management， counter-fraud programs into the comprehensive evaluation of the Peaceful Xiamen Initiative. As fraud is closely related to organized crime， local criminal gangs， and social disorder， the anti-fraud campaign is granted the highest score among other indicators in the evaluation so as to create society-wide anti-fraud dynamics featuring joint contribution， governance and shared benefits.

With the big picture in mind， Xiamen also put meticulous efforts into daily practices. In order to raise the publics awareness， the XPSB launched anti-fraud activities in households， enterprises， campuses， WeChat group chats， and workplaces. Since 2019， it has been cooperating with online delivery platforms and integrated counter-fraud approaches. Now over 1，700 deliverymen are working as anti-fraud promoters who distribute 50，000 paper placemats with orders every day and the public will receive the latest releases while having meals or refreshments.

“Weve cleared the last mile in reaching the people.” Huang concluded that Xiamen has mobilized community workers， including grid-management staff， to join in the campaign; set up anti-fraud volunteer services in communities， villages， enterprises， and universities; and established prevention and control systems underpinned by community-level organizations， thus opening a new chapter in the anti-fraud endeavor for public security and the whole society.