More than 200 individuals arrested in massive Chinese online lottery fraud

203 individuals have been arrested in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, according to a report from the online news site China.org.cn, which claims that the arrests are in connection with a 100 million yuan (US$14.5 million) fake lottery scam.

Over 100 of those arrested will face serious criminal charges, a police spokesman told reporters, revealing that many of them were trained to lure victims to the fake online lottery scheme.

The police allege that gang members were asked to develop “clients” via social networking software such as QQ and WeChat as “honey traps,” and lure them to buy lottery tickets by sending them fake winning screenshots and promising them high rate reward rates.

Police started investigating the case in January, when a victim surnamed Hong complained that he had paid a total of 45,000 yuan via Alipay and WeChat for a “lottery investment” via a young woman he met online.

After three months’ investigation, more than 200 police officers made the arrests in three locations on May 5. More than 200 computers and other equipment and evidence were seized in the swoops.

Investigators estimate that since 2015 the ring made 50 million yuan from transactions worth of more than 100 million yuan, with victims spread across the country.

Investigations continue.