Police in east China's Jiangsu Province have busted a criminal gang of nearly 100 suspects for forging and selling professional certifications.
Police in Nantong City seized more than 22,000 false certificates and confiscated more than 3.5 million yuan (about 516,700 U.S. dollars) involved in the case, according to the Ministry of Public Security (MPS).
Through preliminary investigations, the police found more than 34,000 people were involved in the purchase of these forged papers, covering the fields of labor and personnel matters, science and education, health and medicine, and engineering construction.
The gang was found to have made copycat versions of the official websites of national departments, and reached out to people online who wanted to buy authentic certificates without passing a test or official approval.
These people were swindled into paying between 9,800 yuan and 19,800 yuan to receive "real" certificates that could be "verified" on the fraudulent websites.
Most of the victims did not realize they were deceived until the police came to them for testimony.
The MPS called for a "bottom line" of social integrity and justice, and warned the public not to speculate and buy the certificates.
