China mulls sharing blacklist of telecom scammers

BEIJING - A Chinese regulator is mulling establishing a shared blacklist mechanism against telecom fraudsters in the latest effort to crack down on rampant scams.

Firms and individuals identified to have committed fraud will be blacklisted and the information will be accessible to the entire telecom industry, according to a guideline released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

The MIIT has required telecom companies to refuse blacklisted users for certain services.

By the end of 2016, telecom companies should ensure that 100 percent of the country's telephone accounts are registered under real identities, according to the guideline.

The move came amid a national campaign against rampant online and telecom fraud that has spread across the nation, leading to significant property loss.

In 2015, China detected roughly 590,000 telecom fraud cases, with the amount swindled reaching 22.2 billion yuan ($3.3 billion).