National Anti-Fraud Center

National Anti-Fraud Center (NAFC) is a Chinese mobile application developed by the Ministry of Public Security first published in March 2021. The software claims that it can maintain telecommunications network security, create channels for reporting online fraud and raising awareness for fraud prevention.[1] The Chinese government claims that the app can be used to detect possible telecommunication frauds in addition to reporting them,[2] and heavily promotes its installation.

National Anti-Fraud Center
Other names国家反诈中心
Original author(s)Criminal Investigation Bureau, Ministry of Public Security
Initial releaseMarch 10, 2021
Operating systemAndroid and iOS
Available inSimplified Chinese
LicenseProprietary

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.

Controversies

The app has 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.[3]

Registration for this application requires facial recognition, in addition to scanning the phone for installed applications.[4] It has been reported that citizens in cities like Shenzhen are forced to install it on their smartphone, leading to complaints.[5][6][7][8] Citizens who have visited foreign financial news websites like Bloomberg are reportedly tracked by the app and interrogated by the police.[3][9]

See also

References
  1. "One of the world's most popular iOS apps right now was developed by Chinese police". Quartz. 2021-10-15. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  2. ""国家反诈中心"App正式上线，快来安装吧！". Changjiang Daily (in Chinese (China)). Ministry of Public Security News Center, Henan Province. 2021-04-30. Archived from the original on 2021-05-14. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  3. 古莉 (2021-09-14). "中国警方利用两亿手机反欺诈APP 识别看境外金融新闻者" [Chinese police use anti-fraud app installed on 200 million phones to identify people who access financial news from abroad]. Radio France internationale. Archived from the original on 2021-10-24. Retrieved 2021-12-10.
  4. 王纳 (2021-03-16). ""国家反诈中心"app正式上线". Guangzhou Daily (in Chinese (China)). Archived from the original on 2021-04-29. Retrieved 2021-04-27. -{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。}-
  5. Xue, Yujie (2021-04-12). "Anti-fraud app from Chinese police sees soaring downloads amid complaints of forced installs". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
  6. "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 many places the public is forced to install anti-fraud app, requiring access to a large number of permissions and personal information]. Citizen News (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). 2021-04-22. Archived from the original on 2021-07-02. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  7. "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" [Chinese Communist Party forces everyone to install its "anti-fraud" app, demanding 29 permissions that it can almost control the phone remotely]. Apple Daily (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2021-04-13. Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  8. 何清怡 (2021-04-23). "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？". Initium Media (in Chinese (Hong Kong)). Archived from the original on 2021-06-28. Retrieved 2021-05-08.
  9. Sun, Yu; Liu, Nian (2021-09-14). "China uses anti-fraud app to track access to overseas financial news sites". Financial Times. Beijing. Archived from the original on 2021-12-03. Retrieved 2021-09-14.
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