Police in Mianyang, Sichuan province, have arrested 15 people suspected of stealing personal information.
The suspects, who include bank employees, are said to have been involved in the theft of nearly 2.6 million people's personal information, making 2.3 million yuan ($341,400) from selling such information.
In May, a woman surnamed Yang wanted to take out a bank loan to buy an apartment. She checked her personal credit registry at the bank's credit reference center.
Soon afterward, she received several phone calls each week from people saying they were calling on behalf of firms that provide petty loans.
Suspecting her personal information had been stolen, she reported the case to local police.
Later that month, police found a local resident, surnamed Deng, had illegally obtained personal credit reports online.
An investigation into Deng showed that he collaborated with others in illegally obtaining personal credit reports as well as bank account and balance details before selling the information to others.
A further investigation showed the leakage of such personal information involved a man, surnamed Xia, in Shaoyang, Hunan province.
Xia, head of a bank in the city, was able to access people's personal credit reports as well as details of their bank accounts and balances.
Three employees of a branch of China Citic Bank in Liaoning province paid to illegally obtain such information before selling the reports and banking details to firms offering petty loans, illegal research companies and fraudsters, police said.
