The number of cases of digital yuan fraud in China is steadily increasing. Another e-CNY case was handled by police in Jiangsu Province, east China, earlier this month
China’s Current e-CNY Case
Police in Gao Biao, a county-level town under Yangzhou City’s administration in Jiangsu, received a report from a victim that they had been defrauded earlier this month. According to the news outlet Modern Express in the area, the victim claimed she received a phone call from the suspect on Monday, stating she was a victim of a scam and requesting her personal bank account information and verification codes.
With the victim’s personal details, the scammers created an e-CNY crypto wallet on their behalf and loaded it with over 300,000 yuan ($ 47,000) from their bank account. The money was subsequently sent to the suspect’s own digital yuan wallet.
Local authorities discovered the money had been transferred to a digital wallet controlled by a suspect named Li in eastern Shandong Province during the inquiry. Li was later detained on allegations of assisting an overseas fraud group with money laundering using e-CNY. Li allegedly utilized 60,000 yuan (US $9,400) to create unlawful profits, according to the authorities.
This isn’t China’s first instance of digital yuan money laundering. An e-CNY phone fraud case was also busted earlier this month in Xinmi, a county-level city in central China’s Henan Province.
What is e-CNY all About?
In the field of central bank digital currencies, China is a pioneer. The People’s Bank of China issues e-CNY, often known as digital yuan (PBOC). Many people predict that the digital money will go online around the time of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
According to a white paper produced by the PBOC in July, e-CNY does not provide complete anonymity, but rather “managed anonymity” with different degrees of complexity dependent on customer needs.
“By ensuring that transactions comply with anti-money laundering / anti-terrorism requirements, the misuse of e-CNY for illegal and criminal activities such as telephone fraud, internet gambling, money laundering, and tax evasion should be prevented.”
China is experimenting with the digital yuan all over the country. Qingdao (a coastal city in Shandong Province, northeast China) recently introduced a new batch of red e-CNY packets for use on the subway system. Residents who register can get a 50 yuan ($ 7.83) e-CNY voucher.
According to calculations based on publicly available data, the country has issued at least 20 batches of e-CNY to expand the rollout of pilot projects in various cities.
