Block all overseas calls: police in multiple Chinese cities issue ‘urgent reminder’ as anti-fraud drive scaled up

Turn off incoming overseas calls to avoid scammers and ‘protect your money’, police in at least three provinces warn on their social media accounts

Flurry of public appeals is part of drive to combat rampant online fraud by scaling down mobile users’ exposure to platforms seen as difficult to police

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China’s recent efforts to battle online and telecoms scams have included a new law and an anti-fraud app. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00pm, 8 Jun 2023

Police in at least three provinces in China have called on residents to block all incoming overseas calls if they did not have regular contacts outside the mainland, saying this will protect them from telecoms fraud.

Online messages posted over the weekend by police in Xuzhou and Lianyungang in the eastern province of Jiangsu advised residents on ways to turn off the “receive overseas calls” function.

“Urgent reminder! Please turn off incoming calls from overseas!” police in both cities said on their official WeChat accounts.

“The anti-fraud centre of the Public Security Bureau reminds you that if you do not need to receive incoming overseas calls, you can take the initiative to turn off the function to reduce the risk of being scammed and protect your money!” the posts added, referring to the bureau representing the main civilian police force in China.

The same notice was issued earlier last week by police in Sanming, in the southeastern coastal province of Fujian.

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Police in Weifang, in eastern Shandong province, reposted a Ministry of Public Security instructional video on battling telecoms scams, as part of a similar anti-fraud warning late last month on their official account on Weibo.