Several technology and internet companies are using their advanced equipment and skilled services to help police fight online fraud.

"We work with the police by applying our artificial intelligence to the anti-fraud fight. We hope these joint efforts can help identify swindlers more quickly and alleviate the case burden on the police to make their work more efficient," said Fu Liting, marketing director of the Public Security Division at the Smart City Business Group of iFlyTek, a leading AI developer in Hefei, Anhui province.

Fu said the company has worked with police in Anhui and Shanghai to apply AI in the anti-fraud fight since 2015. "We've begun expanding the application to public security departments in more than 10 provinces," he added, noting the success of an AI voice system that can recognize fraudulent approaches in pilot program areas.

Aware of the wide range of ruses used by swindlers, iFlyTek established an AI anti-fraud research institute in October. "We want to use our advanced technology to recognize more and new types of online fraud that may appear in the coming years," Fu said.

To help police persuade people not to transfer money if the technology suggests they have received fraudulent calls or texts, the company has developed an AI robot "cop assistant".

"It can contact people, record exactly what happened in fraudulent calls and provide police with relevant clues," Fu said.

"Meanwhile, we plan to study and offer more services for seniors－a major target of swindlers－by developing virtual social workers to explain cheats' frequent tricks and organizing free anti-fraud training offline to share more genuine cases."

In the next three years, the company will invest 220 million yuan ($35 million) to help public security authorities nationwide track and fight swindlers, aiming to have its equipment used by police in more than 200 cities, he said.

This year, iFlyTek and the Anhui Anti-fraud Center will offer free classes on the prevention of online fraud, he added.

As technology is increasingly being used to prevent such fraud, several internet companies and telecommunications giants have taken measures to improve public awareness.

For example, since November, delivery workers from Meituan, an online food provider, have been handing out anti-fraud brochures to clients, Liaoshen Evening News reported.

Meanwhile, Qilu Evening News has reported that a China Mobile branch in Jinan, Shandong province, has worked with local police to close down phone numbers that pose a high security risk and strengthened reviews of real-name registration in phone card purchases.