Software:National Anti-Fraud Center
| Other names | 国家反诈中心 |
|---|---|
| Original author(s) | Criminal Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Public Security |
| Initial release | March 10, 2021 |
| Operating system | Android and iOS |
| Available in | Simplified Chinese |
| Type | Fraud prevention |
| License | Proprietary |
National Anti-Fraud Center (Chinese: 国家反诈中心; pinyin: Guójiā Fǎnzhà Zhōngxīn) is a Chinese fraud prevention and reporting mobile application developed by the Ministry of Public Security. It was first published in March 2021. The app advertises that it can maintain telecommunications network security by blocking suspicious content and creating channels for reporting online fraud and raising awareness for fraud prevention, and is heavily promoted by the Ministry of Public Security.[1][2] The app was temporarily removed from the App Store in 2024 and 2025,[citation needed][3] but has since been restored.
Functionalities
The National Anti-Fraud Center app detects received calls, SMS and downloaded apps, and if suspicious content is found and identified as fraudulent, it will actively warn users. The app also provides a "I want to report" function, which enables users to submit suspicious cell phone numbers, SMS, websites, apps and other information to the public security department for processing. In addition, the app also pushes articles on fraud prevention to users to promote fraud prevention.[4]
For iOS devices, the app is only available for Apple Accounts with the region set to "China mainland" and cannot be downloaded from accounts set to other regions.[5]
Reception
The app has received mixed reception, with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV stating in September 2022 that the app had successfully intercepted 280 million scam calls and 400 million scam text messages.[6] However, despite government campaigns encouraging installation, the app was poorly received by some users. Quartz reported that the app received a rating of 2.6 out of 5 on the App Store.[1][7]
Controversies
The app has also faced many controversies. Citizens are reportedly forced to install it on their phone despite its excessive permission requests, privacy violations, and identifying and interrogating users who visit overseas financial websites.[8]
Registration for this application requires facial recognition, in addition to scanning the phone for installed applications.[9] Some Hong Kong media outlets reported that citizens in Shenzhen were forced to install it on their smartphone, leading to complaints.[10][11][12][13] Citizens who installed the app and visited foreign financial news websites like Bloomberg were reported by French state broadcaster Radio France Internationale to have been tracked by the app and interrogated by the police.[8][14]
See also
- Phone fraud
- Scam center
- Xuexi Qiangguo
- Green Dam Youth Escort
- Jingwang Weishi
- Mass surveillance in China
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "One of the world's most popular iOS apps right now was developed by Chinese police" (in en). October 15, 2021. https://qz.com/2074264/chinese-police-are-behind-a-controversial-popular-antifraud-app.
- ↑ ""国家反诈中心"App正式上线,快来安装吧!" (in zh-cn). Ministry of Public Security News Center, Henan Province. April 30, 2021. http://news.cjn.cn/gnxw/202104/t3820540.htm. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ↑ "QiMai Data". https://www.qimai.cn/app/appstatus/appid/1552823102/country/cn.
- ↑ "国家反诈中心 App - App Store" (in zh-Hans-CN). July 23, 2024. https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E5%8F%8D%E8%AF%88%E4%B8%AD%E5%BF%83/id1552823102.
- ↑ Open Tech Fund. "CHINA'S NATIONAL ANTI-FRAUD CENTER - SECURITY ASSESSMENT". https://www.opentech.fund/news/chinas-national-anti-fraud-center-security-assessment/. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ↑ 戴萌萌. "公安部:"百日行动"拦截诈骗电话2.8亿次、短信4亿条". https://news.cctv.com/2022/09/27/ARTIoIh6swgOMjY24cRVLLWe220927.shtml.
- ↑ "国家反诈中心 App - App Store" (in zh-Hans-CN). July 23, 2024. https://apps.apple.com/cn/app/%E5%9B%BD%E5%AE%B6%E5%8F%8D%E8%AF%88%E4%B8%AD%E5%BF%83/id1552823102.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 古莉 (September 14, 2021). "中国警方利用两亿手机反欺诈APP 识别看境外金融新闻者". Radio France internationale. Archived from the original on October 24, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211024035327/https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20210914-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E8%AD%A6%E6%96%B9%E5%88%A9%E7%94%A8%E4%B8%A4%E4%BA%BF%E6%89%8B%E6%9C%BA%E5%8F%8D%E6%AC%BA%E8%AF%88app-%E8%AF%86%E5%88%AB%E7%9C%8B%E5%A2%83%E5%A4%96%E9%87%91%E8%9E%8D%E6%96%B0%E9%97%BB%E8%80%85. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
- ↑ 王纳 (March 16, 2021). ""国家反诈中心"app正式上线" (in zh-cn). Guangzhou Daily. https://www.sohu.com/a/455835410_120152148. "-{您可以在“国家反诈中心”app里快速检测全机已安装应用和未安装应用安装包,精准识别手机内可疑诈骗应用。}-"
- ↑ Xue, Yujie (April 12, 2021). "Anti-fraud app from Chinese police sees soaring downloads amid complaints of forced installs" (in en). South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3129222/anti-fraud-app-chinese-police-sees-soaring-downloads-amid-complaints.
- ↑ "多地強制市民安裝反詐騙APP 要求存取大量手機權限及個人資料" (in zh-hk). April 22, 2021. https://www.hkcnews.com/article/40569/%E7%9C%BE%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E4%B8%AD%E5%9C%8B%E7%B5%84-%E4%BA%92%E8%81%AF%E7%B6%B2%E8%A9%90%E9%A8%99-40569/%E5%A4%9A%E5%9C%B0%E5%BC%B7%E5%88%B6%E5%B8%82%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%89%E8%A3%9D%E5%8F%8D%E8%A9%90%E9%A8%99app-%E8%A6%81%E6%B1%82%E5%AD%98%E5%8F%96%E5%A4%A7%E9%87%8F%E6%89%8B%E6%A9%9F%E6%AC%8A%E9%99%90%E5%8F%8A%E5%80%8B%E4%BA%BA%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ↑ "中共推「反詐騙」App逼全民安裝 要求29項權限幾乎可遙控手機" (in zh-tw). Apple Daily. April 13, 2021. https://tw.appledaily.com/international/20210413/EZXX4PD6IFDJJL3H7DKRN4342E/.
- ↑ 何清怡 (April 23, 2021). "中國大陸推反詐騙 APP ,被指強制民眾下載、侵犯私隱等,你如何看?" (in zh-hk). https://theinitium.com/roundtable/20210423-roundtable-zh-National-Anti-fraud-Centre/. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ↑ Sun, Yu; Liu, Nian (September 14, 2021). "China uses anti-fraud app to track access to overseas financial news sites" (in en). Financial Times (Beijing). https://www.ft.com/content/84b6b889-ae03-47f7-9cd0-bd604b21d5de.
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