Illegal Leakage of ID Photos, Black Industry Chain Makes a Fortune Overnight
Compiled from: China Police Net
Case review
During an online patrol, police in Ouhai, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, discovered that a girl named Xiao Li's held ID photo had fallen into the hands of criminals and was used to register an account on an overseas shopping website. It turned out that when Xiao Li was doing a part-time job, the intermediary said she could earn 50 yuan by downloading and registering a certain financial app, but required her to take several photos holding her ID card and that day's newspaper.
The police quickly traced the source of the leak to Nan'an, Fujian, and arrested suspects Lin Moufeng and Lin Moujun. At the scene, over 20,000 citizens' held ID photos were seized from the computer used for the crime. The two confessed to profiting by selling accounts on overseas shopping platforms. Since 2016, they had purchased a large number of citizens' held ID photos from their "upstream" contacts Ma and You, and commissioned Zhao to forge fake business licenses using Photoshop.
The seized accounts were divided into personal and corporate types. To register a personal account, a "four-piece set" was required: a "holding newspaper photo," a "holding blank paper photo," and "front and back photos of the ID card." For a corporate account, a business license was needed in addition to the "four-piece set." Such a set of held photos, costing 80 to 100 yuan to produce, could be sold for 500 to 600 yuan after being registered as an overseas shopping website account, while corporate accounts could fetch up to 1,200 yuan.
From collecting photos of citizens holding ID cards and forging fake business licenses to selling registered accounts online, a complete black-market chain for illegally trading personal information has gradually emerged.
"Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China"
Article 253-1: [Crime of Infringing on Citizens' Personal Information]
Violating relevant state regulations by selling or providing citizens' personal information to others, if the circumstances are serious, shall be punishable by up to three years in prison or criminal detention, and/or a fine; if the circumstances are particularly serious, the penalty shall be three to seven years in prison, along with a fine.
Whoever, in violation of relevant state regulations, sells or provides citizens' personal information obtained during the performance of duties or provision of services to others shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Whoever steals or otherwise illegally obtains citizens' personal information shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the first paragraph.
Where a unit commits any of the crimes mentioned in the preceding three paragraphs, a fine shall be imposed on the unit, and the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the respective paragraphs.
[1] The author's perspective
It is understood that criminals generally obtain photos of people holding ID cards through two methods: first, "black intermediaries" obtain or buy part-time workers' information under the guise of recruitment or third-party platform registration; second, user information leaked from non-standard financial websites. After obtaining these photos, criminals mostly resell them to overseas shopping sites or fraud rings, and these "downstream buyers" will perform "data collision" with other personal information, allowing them to tailor specific marketing or fraud schemes for each individual, even down to age, family, income, and hobbies. Under this method, the probability of victims being scammed increases significantly.
But today's big data on the internet is highly "interconnected"; just after registering on one platform, another platform sends a text message, showing that personal information leakage has become very serious. Unfortunately, while we want to avoid leaking personal information, we are forced to agree to these "unfair clauses." Fortunately, China is keeping pace with the times, and the Personal Information Protection Law will take effect on November 1 this year. Although the law provides protection, we must not let our guard down, as photos of people holding ID cards can be used in many scenarios, and criminals may exploit our identities to commit crimes.
The author reminds us that in daily life, we should be cautious when submitting personal data and ID card photos, check whether the platform is reliable, and it is best to annotate "only for xx purpose" when submitting ID card photos. Once you notice any anomalies in your credit system or other records, report to the police as soon as possible to minimize losses, and actively assist law enforcement in quickly apprehending criminals. This not only protects your personal and property safety but also effectively curbs social disorder.
