BEIJING — Chinese police have cracked 162,000 cases of telecom fraud and captured nearly 140,000 suspects this year, according to the Ministry of Public Security on Dec 16.

The ministry also launched a telecom service Monday to prevent such fraud, which can send short messages and make calls to alert potential victims.

The service helped over 3,000 people on average each day since its trial operation on Nov 5 in pilot areas, said the ministry.