CHANGSHA, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of 37 people have received sentences of up to 14 years and been fined up to 500,000 yuan for telecom fraud in central China's Hunan Province.

According to the people's court of Yuelu district in Changsha City on Tuesday, the gang posted fake second-hand car advertisements online. When the victims made the down payment, they were asked to come to see the vehicle and complete the transaction in person.

While the buyers were examining the cars, one of the gang members would call them to keep their phones busy. The buyers' phones were then cloned and another gang member would call the victims' companions, pretending to be the victims, and asked them to make a previously arranged payment.

The gang stole over 1 million yuan (160,000 U.S. dollars) in 28 cases between February 2015 to January 2016.

In the first nine months of 2017, prosecutors indicted 22,268 people in 8,257 cases involving property violations via the Internet or telecommunications.