As telecommunications fraud crimes continue to evolve, Chinese police have strengthened precise strikes against such crimes in recent years through measures such as "cutting off networks" and "blocking cards," curbing their ability to commit fraud using communication networks.
However, facing the technological upgrades and countermeasures of criminals, how to completely sever their communication chains remains a formidable challenge.
In China, the police continue to intensify the governance of telecom fraud, not only investigating the telecom sites involved but also significantly tightening the acquisition channels for key criminal tools such as phone cards and bank cards, increasingly complicating the operations of telecom fraud groups.
Abroad, telecom fraud parks, represented by Myawaddy in Myanmar, have also suffered "power cuts" by local governments. On this, Bao Zhipeng, an assistant researcher at the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that although power and network disconnection measures can disrupt telecom fraud groups in the short term, criminals are continuously adapting and upgrading their technology. For instance, some parks are now equipped with small fuel generators and even use the "Starlink" satellite communication system to bypass traditional network blockades, significantly reducing the effectiveness of the "power cut" and "network cut" strikes.
Domestically, although mobile card registration has been fully implemented with real-name systems, a large number of non-real-name or falsely registered phone cards are still circulating in the black market. These phone cards mainly come from two sources: one is users actively selling their real-name registered phone cards, and the other is criminals using stolen identity information to illegally register new cards. Upstream "number merchants" collect these numbers through various illegal channels and then resell them to fraud groups, providing basic communication resources for telecom fraud.
A major case was exposed in an episode of "Today's Statement" in August 2023, where the police successfully dismantled a black industry chain involving internal staff of operators, capturing 23 insiders colluding with fraud groups. The police recovered up to 80 million mobile numbers from the suspects' computers, revealing the vast number resource pool of the telecom fraud group.
What is more shocking is that these "insiders" not only sold mobile numbers but also manipulated the telecom system through technical means. They used forged number pool business contracts to bypass internal reviews, set up private servers inside the operator's machine rooms, illegally accessed the SMS service system, and provided interfaces for bulk account registration to downstream fraud groups.
This industry chain's operation mode includes screening for vacant number resources, bulk receiving and sending SMS verification codes, facilitating the registration of various online accounts for fraud groups. Since these accounts are mostly used for financial fraud, online gambling, and other illegal activities, the harm of this illegal transaction chain far exceeds ordinary "black card" transactions.
Facing the technological evolution of telecom fraud groups, relying solely on traditional "network cutting" and "card blocking" methods is no longer sufficient to completely dismantle their operational systems. Experts suggest that it is necessary to strengthen technical monitoring methods, such as using big data analysis and artificial intelligence technology to identify abnormal communication behaviors and track fraud chains. Additionally, further strict supervision of internal management of operators is essential to plug the leaks of information by "insiders."
Moreover, international cooperation in combating telecom fraud is crucial. As fraud groups become transnational, regulatory measures of a single country often prove ineffective. Only through international law enforcement cooperation, joint technical blockades, and financial controls can the survival chain of telecom fraud groups be truly severed.
