On Tuesday, China announced that officials detained thousands of spammers who allegedly used fake base stations to spam mobile phones.
Reuters reported that spamming is a major problem in China, which is said to be the largest cellphone market in the world. Chinese authorities said they had cornered 1,530 people in the most recent crackdown on spammers.
The Globe and Mail said the Ministry of Public Security claimed it had initiated the campaign against spammers in February this year. During the crackdown, officials discovered that fake base stations were being used to send messages to mobile users through fake telephone numbers, or by posing to be government departments or officials.
The ministry's raids resulted in a seizure of more than 2,600 fake base stations. The authorities said that the accused spammers were involved in 3,450 criminal offences.
According to Globe and Mail, the spammers used messages to cheat people through real estate offers or obtain banking information. Users were also lured by offers of pornography, which is illegal in China.
Australia Network News said, "One of the criminal groups discovered, in the northeastern province of Liaoning, is suspected of sending more than 200 million spam messages."
According to PC World, Chinese authorities decided to combat spam email in February. Authorities aren't just targeting spammers that affect the public, though; they also seek to target spammers threatening the government.
"Besides targeting spam with pornographic content or links to gambling sites, the MPS says the campaign is aimed at cracking down on 'reactionary' spam. That ministry oversees China's police force and is believed to handle blocking of Internet access to sites deemed undesirable. The term reactionary is a political label for individuals and content deemed subversive to the Chinese government," according to PC World.
