Illegal Sale of Citizen Information in China Uncovered

Beijing police have revealed a series of cases involving the illegal sale of citizen information using cryptocurrency, with a total value exceeding $282 million.

The illegal transactions were conducted through more than ten virtual wallets. The cases span 15 regions and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang.

Chinese authorities described these cases as notable for their secret and diverse criminal methods, constituting a “serial incident” of high complexity. The criminal activities ranged from deep web transactions to illegal currency transactions.

The Beijing police had received prior tips regarding the use of the “dark web” and cryptocurrency for transferring information and conducting virtual money transactions, particularly the illegal sale of various private information of Chinese citizens.

Liang Fei, a case officer from the Economic Investigation Department of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, stated that some individuals had created multiple groups using overseas chat software to openly sell citizens' personal information such as ID numbers, mobile phone numbers, and home addresses.

Fei elaborated, “There are hundreds of members in the information selling group, and the personal information of hundreds of millions of citizens has been sold in the group. The transaction method is strictly limited to cryptocurrencies.”