More attention needs to be paid to minors and school students implicated in cybercrimes, a procuratorial official in Sichuan province said.

The fight against such offenses should be intensified, and measures must be taken to stop them at source, Zeng Xuegang, deputy head of Pujiang County Procuratorate said.

In a recently publicized local case, in May 2021, a 17-year-old student named only as Li was promised by two adults he got to know during his studies that he could make some quick money. Li agreed to use his bank card to help transfer funds for online gambling.

He opened a bank account in 2019 to cover his living costs during his time at school. The account had a daily transfer limit of 500,000 yuan ($68,300).

Between May 7 and May 18,2021, Li assisted with a number of cash transfers, but gradually realized that he may have broken the law. Fearing punishment, he stopped assisting such transfers.

He was found to have helped transfer more than 4.2 million yuan, for which he earned just 3,000 yuan. In October 2021, he was brought in by police for questioning.

Due to the relatively short time Li was involved in the transfers, the small amount he made from them, and his voluntary confession and remorse, his case was considered relatively minor. In addition, a social investigation found that Li had a tendency to spend recklessly, a lack of legal awareness, and insufficient family support for his education.

In August last year, the Pujiang procuratorate decided to impose a probationary period on Li, and after this expired in February, it was decided not to prosecute him.

During this time, the procuratorate provided Li with guidance on the consequences of his action, arranged community service projects for him, and helped him make rational decisions regarding his finances and spending.

He was helped to take part in online and offline studies to prevent cyberspace crimes, and family education counselors were invited to provide his family with professional guidance, with the aim of promoting proper parenting methods.

Zeng, the deputy procuratorate head, said that in cases of minors using bank cards, prosecutors have reviewed banking regulations, liaised with financial regulatory authorities in making visits to bank branches, and gathered information about minors applying to open accounts.

The authorities discovered that some banks failed to implement standards for accounts opened by minors. These banks also set excessively high cash transfer limits, and failed to give sufficient warnings about the risks involved in illegal activities. Zeng said all these factors gave criminals opportunities to persuade minors to use their bank cards for such activities.

In September last year, the Pujiang procuratorate recommended that local banks strengthen management procedures, require guardians to accompany minors when opening accounts, and introduce an alert mechanism for abnormal transactions.

Zeng said that since these recommendations were made, there have been no further cases of cyberspace crimes involving the use of minors' bank cards.