A Taiwanese computer engineer was swindled out of NT$13.86 million (US$440,000) in an Internet prostitution scam, Taiwan radio said on Friday.
The man, surnamed Huang, was looking for a one-night stand when he contacted a woman named Yuan Yuan, who agreed to meet him for a certain charge, the Broadcasting Corp of China reported.
Arranging for paid sex on the Internet is common in Taiwan, though illegal.
The practice is euphemistically called yuan jiao, which means “compensated dating,” or enjo kosai, which means an exchange of sex for cash or gifts, and originated in Japan. It has gained popularity among Taiwanese teens.
After Huang, 38, transferred the money to Yuan Yuan’s bank account, he received a phone call from a man who claimed that Huang had used the wrong procedure to wire the money and had caused the bank’s computer system to break down.
He demanded that Huang transmit NT$2 million in damages or he would be killed, the radio report quoted police as saying.
After the second transaction, the man called again, claiming Huang had caused another system collapse and demanding more damages.
The man claimed the bank accounts of several lawmakers had been destroyed and that would delay upcoming elections.
Huang then took a mortgage out on his apartment and transferred more money, only to receive another call, saying he had to pay more damages because he caused another computer breakdown, causing problems on the stock markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Wall Street.
Within a month, Huang had wired NT$13.86 million before he reported the case to police in Hsinchu.
Hsinchu police cracked a four-man fraud ring but have not found Yuan Yuan, who they said probably does not exist.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
RSS