Online fraud suspects are escorted back from Cambodia to Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, July 6, 2017. Chinese and Cambodian police have cracked a major online fraud case, and all the 74 suspects were brought back to China by a charted airplane Thursday afternoon. (Xinhua/Tan Chang)
BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese and Cambodian police have cracked a major online fraud case, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced Thursday.
Since February, a series of online racketeering cases were reported from Hunan Province. Police soon discovered more than 800 victims of the "naked chatting" scheme via popular instant messaging service WeChat.
The victims are encouraged to undress and conduct video chat with a "beautiful woman." The victims are recorded and blackmailed accordingly.
Many victims had paid up to the extent of an estimated total of more than 12 million yuan (about 1.8 million U.S. dollars).
Under the command of the MPS and assisted by Cambodian authorities, police from the provinces of Hunan, Sichuan and Henan, raided 12 dens in Cambodia, capturing 74 suspects and seizing 1.7 million yuan on the spot, along with bank cards and computers.
The suspects were all brought back to China on Thursday afternoon.
