Police detain 203 for online lottery fraud in China

XI'AN -- Over 200 people have been caught for their alleged involvement in an online lottery fraud worth 100 million yuan ($14.5 million), police in northwest China's Shaanxi Province said Tuesday.

Among the 203 arrested, more than 100 will face criminal charges as they were allegedly trained to lure victims in their fake lottery scheme online, said a police officer in the provincial capital Xi'an.

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 of winning.

Police started investigating the case in January, when a victim surnamed Hong said to have paid a total of 45,000 yuan via Alipay or WeChat for the "lottery investment" via a young woman net friend surnamed Li.

After three months' investigation, more than 200 policemen made the arrests in three locations on May 5. More than 200 computers and other equipment were also seized.

Since 2015, the gang had made 50 million yuan from transactions worth of more than 100 million yuan, with victims spread across the country.

Further investigation is under way.