BEIJING — Chinese authorities on April 27 launched a nationwide campaign to enhance the public awareness of fraudulent practices, along with a month-long publicity drive to combat telecom and internet frauds.

It is better to prevent the crime in advance than to crack down on it afterward, said Du Hangwei, vice-minister of public security, calling for active public participation from all walks of life in the country's efforts against such illegal activities.

Last year, Chinese police cracked 322,000 cases involving telecom and internet frauds and arrested 361,000 suspects, which helped avert economic losses worth 459.8 billion yuan (about $70.9 billion), official data showed.