China's railway police on Thursday launched an operation to track down scalpers online as the traditional Chinese New Year approaches.

Police are scanning the national train ticket booking website, www.12306.cn, for suspicious buyers who book multiple prime travel rush tickets and then refund them, as well as those with unusual itineraries, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement.

The ministry pledged that police nationwide will investigate every substantial lead and try to catch as many scalpers as possible.

It also encouraged citizens to come forward if they discover their identities have been stolen to buy train tickets.

The Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 19 this year, is the busiest travel season in China, especially for the country's railway system.

In 2014, about 266 million people traveled by train during the 40-day Spring Festival travel season.

Train tickets are in high demand, and scalping has continued despite persistent efforts. Online purchases using ID cards have helped curb scalpers, but they have created new countermeasures, such as using stolen IDs and "ticket snatching" plugins. Endi

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