Police escort back 153 online fraud suspects

A total of 153 online fraud suspects who allegedly carried out cross-border "naked chat" extortion operations from Indonesia were returned to China on Wednesday evening, the Ministry of Public Security said.

The suspects were brought back by Chinese police on chartered flights, the ministry said. Their capture marks the resolution of more than 100 cross-border naked chat extortion cases filed in China, it added. Naked chat scams usually involve blackmailing or extorting money from an online victim by placing them in a compromising position.

Given the current surge in online naked chat extortion crimes, the ministry deployed public security bodies in Beijing and Shandong province to closely monitor major cases and strengthen analysis. After launching investigations, the police gathered information about major transnational extortion criminal groups operating in Indonesia.