BEIJING, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Public security authorities across China have cracked 1,116 fraud cases related to the pneumonia epidemic caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

A total of 294 suspects implicated in the cases have been detained and more than 6.6 million yuan (947,000 U.S. dollars) retrieved, the ministry said.

Some defrauded the victims by fraudulently telling them they could help them buy medical face masks but refused to ship out goods after receiving money, some pretended to be the staff of charity or civil affairs departments and got the public to "donate" money through their fake links or websites, while others asked for money in social media chat groups using the excuse of raising funds for epidemic prevention work, the ministry said.

The ministry said it would toughen crackdown on epidemic-related crimes and help the general public raise their ability to identify and avoid fraud.