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Chinese cyber fraudsters ‘setting up base in Africa’


Chinese telecommunications fraudsters may be setting up base across Africa, says the Asian country’s embassy in Nairobi.

In a statement, the embassy said the 77 suspects arrested in Runda last week might be part of an international cybercrime ring run by some Chinese.

The statement says the fraudsters usually target Chinese, asking them to transfer money to specified accounts. They claim to be officials affiliated to the Chinese government.

“This case may further signal a relocation of this kind of crime ring to Africa,” says the statement.

In May, police from the Fujian Province in China arrested 35 suspects. They discovered that the two gangs were based in Indonesia and Kenya.

FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES

The criminals carried out fraudulent activities in China and Taiwan, according to the embassy.

Telecommunications fraudsters from China have previously been arrested in southeastern Asian countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore.

In October, the Egyptian police unearthed a fraud ring and arrested 96 Chinese suspects. The police said 56 of them were from the Chinese mainland. The rest were from Taiwan.

Of the 77 suspects arrested in Nairobi, one had a Thai passport while another had a Taiwanese travel document. The other 75 had Chinese passports.