China cut off the services of 9,700 mobile phones involved in the communication of illegal short messages during a nationwide crackdown in November, said a police spokesman Tuesday in Beijing.

"In addition, we have closed 108 bank accounts related with illegal activities using short message service (SMS) as a tool and confiscated a large number of communications devices," said Wu Heping, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security.

According to Wu, the police received more than 107,000 clues of illegal SMS-related cases from the general public last month.

Illegal activities using SMS as a tool have been on the rise in recent years. In one of the typical cases, mobile phone users often receive messages saying they have won big prizes in a lottery, but they have to pay a certain fees or taxes to get their prizes which do not exist at all.

SMS is also used in the prostitution business to promote hookers.

Source: Xinhua