Residents in Shenzhen, China, have reported receiving dozens of anti-fraud text messages within minutes, with some saying the alerts kept coming even after they had received more than 30 or 40 messages.
A resident posted screenshots online on Sept. 21 showing at least 24 notifications from four different phone numbers identified as belonging to the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau’s Anti-Fraud Center.
The messages warned that “fraudsters are suspected of having contacted you online recently” and urged recipients to check recently added online contacts and avoid making transfers without verification.
The screenshots were reposted by @whyyoutouzhele, a prominent Chinese citizen journalist account on X.
The screenshots showed that between 12:44 p.m. and 12:46 p.m., the resident’s phone received seven messages from one number, nine from another, six from a third, and two from a fourth—24 messages in roughly two minutes.
The resident later said he ultimately received more than 30 such messages.
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Other users reported similar experiences.
One commenter on the original post said they had received “at least 40 or 50” anti-fraud messages and that they were still coming. Another said they had received more than 20.
At least three people publicly reported receiving unusually large numbers of the messages, although it remains unclear how many residents were affected.
The resident who posted the screenshots later said he called to inquire about the messages and was told that “the system had malfunctioned.” Shenzhen police have not publicly confirmed that explanation.
The reason the same warning was repeatedly sent to individual recipients, as well as how many people were affected, remains unclear.
Anti-Fraud System
The episode comes as China has expanded a nationwide anti-fraud system that combines warning messages, a dedicated police hotline, and the National Anti-Fraud Center app with a broader network of digital policing tools.
The system has also raised concerns about data collection and surveillance.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in 2025 that authorities in Tibetan areas had compelled residents to install the National Anti-Fraud Center app. Citing technical analysis of the app, HRW said it could provide access to sensitive personal data and certain device functions, including activity logs, private messages, call records, and browsing history.
While that evidence does not establish that the text-message incident was part of a surveillance operation, it provides broader context for concerns among some Chinese residents about how anti-fraud systems identify individuals, trigger warnings, and handle personal information.
The Shenzhen incident has also prompted complaints about the growing frequency of anti-fraud warnings and the difficulty some people say they have in distinguishing legitimate police alerts from other unsolicited messages.
Several China-based individuals spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal.
A resident of Anhui Province, surnamed Xing, told the publication that he frequently receives anti-fraud messages and sometimes struggles to tell whether they are genuine.
“At most, I receive 20 anti-fraud-related text messages in one day, saying things like ‘protect your property,’” Xing said.
He said a relative who lost 30,000 yuan ($4,200) to fraud reported the case to police but was told to wait for further notice. According to Xing, two years later, his relative was still waiting.
Xing said police later questioned him after he criticized the authorities’ handling of the case in an online group.
“Last month, I said in the group that the police were not doing their job, and they immediately came to talk to me, warning me that I could not ‘talk nonsense,’” he said.
Xing also said police questioned him after he answered an overseas call.
“They are very nervous about ordinary people answering overseas calls. They asked me who I was talking to. I said, someone called me to ask about my personal matters, and that had nothing to do with you,” he said.
Fraud Warnings or Surveillance
A Chinese independent writer surnamed Li told The Epoch Times that police frequently send anti-fraud warnings without explaining the specific risk that prompted them.
“Anti-fraud text messages are more numerous than scam messages. This phenomenon often causes people to lose the ability to distinguish between genuine and false information,” Li said. “If you send one message, people will read it carefully. If you send dozens of messages in a few minutes, people will only think about how to make their phones quiet.”
Li argued that the frequency of such warnings could undermine their intended purpose.
Some residents have also raised broader concerns about whether anti-fraud tools can be used for purposes beyond preventing fraud.
A Shanghai-based petitioner, surnamed Zhao, told The Epoch Times that she was concerned that anti-fraud technology could be used to monitor people who disagree with the regime.
“The Chinese Communist Party is more eager to arrest people who oppose them than to arrest fraudsters. I have not seen them catch fraudsters, but I have seen them use the anti-fraud app to catch petitioners. As soon as you leave Shanghai, they know,” Zhu said.
Li similarly questioned whether anti-fraud systems could expand into broader forms of social control and monitoring.
“If anti-fraud becomes a reason for frequently contacting and monitoring people, there is a suspicion that it is changing from a tool to prevent fraud into a tool for maintaining [the regime’s] stability,” he said.
He said the regime should disclose how anti-fraud warnings are triggered, what personal information is collected, and what procedures are available for people to correct erroneous warnings.
The reported Shenzhen incident has not established why the messages were sent or whether the reported system malfunction affected a wider group of residents.
Shen Yue contributed to this report.