(Yicai Global) Aug. 7 -- Chinese men are more likely to become victims of online and phone fraud than women, as many cases involve false promises related to dating, according to a study done by the highest procuratorial organ and a Chinese ministry.

Men make up more than 60 percent of the victims in these cases, a research report that the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and Tencent Holdings released yesterday. Over one-half of these people are aged between 18 and 28, meaning that the post-90s generation has limited awareness of the dangers lurking online or reaching them via their mobile phones, the report added. 

The most common type of online and phone scams is purely financial, related to stealing passwords and conducting illegal transactions, making up almost 40 percent of the total. Some 14 percent of the cases involve the false pretences of part-time job offers -- but only after the applicant pays the potential employer some bogus fees. Nearly 12 percent of the victims are lured by seductive dating profiles that are hungry for gifts.

In the first half of this year, China's police solved 58,000 communication fraud cases, up 3 percent from the previous year. The number of arrested suspects rose 33 percent to 51,400 individuals.

Editor: Emmi Laine