China shuts down fake police website

Criminals posing as police to solicit money from the public are common in China

Associated Press

BEIJING — Chinese authorities have shut down a fake police website that offered the public help battling online crime but required a service fee for the assistance.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday that police had closed down the website http://www.wangjing110.com, which mimicked an official website hosted by the Shanghai municipal police bureau.

It says the fraudulent website claimed to be the China Internet Supervision and Investigation Authority and pledged to recover money lost through online fraud in return for a deposit or service fee.

Xinhua says four suspects have been arrested. It did not give any other details.

Police corruption and criminals posing as police to solicit money from the public are common in China.

Copyright 2012 Associated Press