GUANGZHOU: Police in south China's Guangdong province yesterday claimed to have solved nearly 500 cases of "telephone fraud", involving a whopping 11.85 million yuan ($1.75 million), this year.

The public security department of the province said cops started cracking down on the frauds at the beginning of this year.

The police have "uncovered and broken" 46 criminal gangs, which were involved in 486 cases of telephone fraud, involving 2.45 million yuan in cash and 9.4 million yuan in bank deposits, the department disclosed. The police have seized 323 people, suspected of either committing the crimes or being involved with the gangs, and confiscated 678 phones, 735 SIM cards and more than 2,800 credit or debit cards.