GUANGZHOU -- Anti-fraud centers in south China's Guangdong have stopped 79,000 people from being cheated in a year, said local authorities on Friday.

The centers prevented fraudulent transactions involving 37,000 bank cards, helping people avoid economic loss of 1.1 billion yuan (about 165 million US dollars) and disabled 110,000 telephone numbers used for fraud.

Guangdong took the lead in China in setting up anti-fraud centers in September last year, with the cooperation of telecom operators and banks, and extensive use of warning text messages.

A total of 3,960 people suspected of telecom fraud were apprehended in the past year, including more than 400 in Cambodia, Kenya, Armenia and other countries.

China has been strengthening its fight against telecom and Internet fraud, with 32 provincial anti-fraud centers and 206 city-level anti-fraud centers established as of May.

The increase in telecom and Internet fraud has been contained, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Economic losses caused by telecom and Internet fraud in 2016 decreased by 10.9 percent.