Photo: screenshot of the anti-fraud animation

Who is the undercover cop, the tiger, the crocodile or the fox? The three are characters of a clay animation released recently that used the three characters, and a "Godfather" raccoon, to promote anti-fraud knowledge. The animation asks viewers to protect their financial privacy. 

In the three minutes 40 seconds long animation of, the "Godfather" asked his three followers to enhance their activities amid tightening crack down on such crimes. 

The tiger tried to borrow the e-pay QR code of Miss Sloth to launder money to avoid tracking, but the sloth saw through his trick and acted as slow as in the blockbuster Zootopia, making the tiger impatient to wait for her. 

The crocodile tried to rob the credit card of a turtle, who curled into his shell and resolutely refused to give his card to the crocodile. The fox disguised itself as a massagist and successfully stole ID cards of her customers to open accounts for money laundering. 

The raccoon was praising the fox when a police officer giraffe broke into their den and caught them all. 

Some people immediately recognized that the short video is a tribute to the Godfather series and Zootopia. But for viewers unfamiliar with those movies, they still remember some tricks that fraudsters may use to appropriate their information for money laundering and other crimes. 

Photo: screenshot of the anti-fraud animation

The video was made by China's anti-fraud center, a joint taskforce of multiple authorities working to tackle telecom fraud. The center also released a mobile app that had made real splash on social media. 

Named the "National Anti-fraud Center," the app is designed to remind its users of suspected fraudulent activities in various forms, including phone calls, text messages, or dubious apps and websites.

Many people posted online how they received reminders from the app after receiving phone calls from a suspected fraudster, trying to obtain their numbers via black market. 

The app also offers a convenient reporting service in case users get involved in suspicious activities in their daily life. Dozens of anti-fraud lectures are also included in the app.

To entice the public to download the app, communities have adopted various methods including sending free eggs - which has largely attracted the elderly - allowing people to pet a police dog, and giving customers a fast pass to popular restaurants. 

The Global Times found the center also posted many typical fraud cases and anti-fraud tips on its official Sina Weibo account. The app has been downloaded more than 100,000 times on app store. 

China is stepping up its efforts in fighting against fraud crimes. The draft of an anti-telecom fraud law entered its first reading at the 31st session of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee on October 19. It was revealed after the reading that telecom fraud is a crime that has caused biggest losses and has become the highest public concern. 

The heightened measures against telecom fraud even impacted the COVID-19 epidemic control work in Southwest China's Yunnan Province. 

Multiple Chinese cities have issued notices this year, asking residents to persuade their acquaintances overseas who are involved in telecom fraud to return. The perpetrators were told their household registration could be revoked if they chose not to return. 

Many telecom fraud suspects were hiding in Myanmar. To avoid being caught at the land ports, some illegally crossed the borders which posed a threat to Yunnan's epidemic control situation. 

Global Times