Nuisance calls surge during Singles' Day period: report

BEIJING - China saw a surge of nuisance calls in the days leading up to Singles' Day, according to a fresh report.

According to China's leading Internet security company Qihoo 360, the average daily number of nuisance calls blocked by its mobile application 360 Mobile Security reached 160 million from Nov 1 to Nov 11, 23 percent higher than the average in the first three quarters of this year.

The mobile app also blocked more than 90 million spam messages each day during the period, 2.1 times the average for the first three quarters.

On Nov 11 alone, it blocked 180 million nuisance calls, 6,798 phishing websites and 190 pieces of spam.

Of all the nuisance calls, 16.6 percent were advertising promotions, followed by fraudsters and real estate agents at 9.7 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

Beijing's Public Security Bureau received 532 reports of fraud, with each individual losing about 9,233 yuan ($1,348) on average.

Nov 11 is known in China as Singles' Day because the date, 11-11, resembles four "bare sticks," a term used in China to refer to single people. The day started to become associated with commerce when Alibaba launched a major promotional campaign in 2009.

The most eye-catching event this year was Alibaba Group's Global Shopping Festival, which generated 121 billion yuan in gross merchandise volume.