Investment scams and phishing advertisements on social media platforms have become more rampant, with some scammers even using the names and headshots of celebrities to commit fraud.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on March 9 met with several government agencies and international corporations to crack down on such activities. Officials from the National Communications Commission, the Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Digital Affairs, as well as representatives from Google and Meta Platforms Inc, participated in the meeting and exchanged their views.
The FSC decided to establish a reporting system in collaboration with online platforms. Through this system, scam advertisements are reported to the authorities first, and the online platforms must take action and remove them as soon as possible.
During a meeting of the legislature on March 31, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), in response to lawmakers’ questions about tackling illicit online activities, said that a government anti-fraud task force had been organized, and it would announce response measures and plans within a month.
A few days after the FSC’s meeting with Google and Meta, I submitted an op-ed piece to the Liberty Times (The Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) saying that the planned mechanism has some blind spots.
First, the reporting system involves the issue of attribution, namely, it is uncertain who or which organization is responsible once a scam is reported.
Second, the administrative capacity of the government might not be adequate enough to monitor fraudulent advertisements.
Regrettably, my concerns were immediately confirmed. Over the past few days, people might have seen an advertisement for “Hsiao-chun Stock Investment Class” (筱君存股班), which misappropriated the name and photographs of senior reporter and TV host Liao Hsiao-chun (廖筱君). As of the time that this was written, the scam advertisement was still on Facebook, recruiting members for free.
The advertisement was approved by Facebook on Friday. After being reported by the public, the scam might be removed after a few days.
However, it is worth noting that cybercriminals are as unrelenting as Marvel Comics’ paramilitary terrorist organization “Hydra.” Even though officials and civilians have worked hard to report these scams and have them removed, more fraudulent advertisements will appear again in a day or two.
Obviously, the current reporting system as designed by well-intentioned government officials is not the right antidote for cybercriminals.
Chen said that a government anti-fraud task force would propose some measures by the end of this month. I would like to remind the government of the gap between planning and reality. No matter how grand and impressive the proposals to combat online scams might be, they exist in theory, rather than in reality. Official documents must be put into practice.
Another issue that needs to be addressed concerns Taiwan’s legal system. The nation does not have clear and definite legislation to govern international online platforms, but it is precisely on these mega platforms that investment fraud is rampantly promoted.
The government should work on these problems and realize its plans. If officials keep breaking their promises, and if the public cannot see the results of the government’s efforts, public discontent will grow.
Lo Cheng-chung is director of Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Financial and Economic Law.
Translated by Emma Liu
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
Last week, 24 Republican representatives in the US Congress proposed a resolution calling for US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the US’ “one China” policy, calling it outdated, counterproductive and not reflective of reality, and to restore official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, enter bilateral free-trade agreement negotiations and support its entry into international organizations. That is an exciting and inspiring development. To help the US government and other nations further understand that Taiwan is not a part of China, that those “one China” policies are contrary to the fact that the two countries across the Taiwan Strait are independent and
RSS