Quite a few lawmakers have recently received scam messages on Facebook, which said that “the prosecutor has been secretly investigating your spending on assistant hiring,” and attached a QR code linked to a closed social media group, saying that it could provide help to hide the money flow.
This fake-prosecutor story has become scammers’ newest trick, and its victims even include veteran actress Tan Ai-chen (譚艾珍), who was made to believe that to assist a police investigation, she must abide by the principle of “secrecy of criminal investigation,” and ended up with transferring money to the scammers without first discussing it with anyone, even her family. Fortunately, thanks to the police’s proactive moves to spot the potential victims and swift action, Tan was prevented from making further withdrawals and payments.
Fraud continues to evolve, using all kinds of innovative techniques. Given the challenge, how should we protect ourselves and do our part in the fight against fraud?
In fact, despite the secrecy of a criminal investigation, no judicial authority would tell you privately that it is investigating you and ask you to “transfer money to a supervised bank account,” or ask you not to tell your family about it. Rhetoric like this is a typical sign of fraud. Once you come across such a situation, you should go to the police or call the 165 hotline.
“Whenever there is someone who claims to be a prosecutor contacting you, it is a fraud,” wrote actress and writer Gin Oy (歐陽靖), Tan’s daughter, in her Facebook post. It is indeed the key concept for protecting yourself from fraud.
The main reason global fraud losses remain high is the rampant scam messages on social media. In the past, the “fake prosecutors” and “guess who I am” fake friend call scams were mostly carried out via text message or phone call.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau once caught a scam gang that was found to have spent NT$100 million (US$3,064,571) in mobile phone credit on fraud text messages. Another crime syndicate used AI voice robots to first make test phone calls to select vulnerable people, then follow up with scam text messages. Now these tricks have been transferred to social media.
Not only should the telecom industry play a part in anti-fraud operations to screen out the fraudulent communications, social media should also actively block posts that are obviously scams.
As for the individuals, when hearing key phrases like “do not tell others about it for the sake of secrecy of criminal investigation,” or “supervised bank account,” you should sound the alarm and return to reality, and then go to the police or call the 165 hotline for advice — these actions do not violate investigative secrecy.
If you encounter “little secrets that cannot be told” on the Internet or other platforms, you need to seek the help of the police — just go to the nearest police station. Police officers should be empathetic, patient and attentive to help people dispel their fears or illusions.
Lin Shu-li is a police officer.
Translated by Lin Lee-kai
Why is Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not a “happy camper” these days regarding Taiwan? Taiwanese have not become more “CCP friendly” in response to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) use of spies and graft by the United Front Work Department, intimidation conducted by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and the Armed Police/Coast Guard, and endless subversive political warfare measures, including cyber-attacks, economic coercion, and diplomatic isolation. The percentage of Taiwanese that prefer the status quo or prefer moving towards independence continues to rise — 76 percent as of December last year. According to National Chengchi University (NCCU) polling, the Taiwanese
It would be absurd to claim to see a silver lining behind every US President Donald Trump cloud. Those clouds are too many, too dark and too dangerous. All the same, viewed from a domestic political perspective, there is a clear emerging UK upside to Trump’s efforts at crashing the post-Cold War order. It might even get a boost from Thursday’s Washington visit by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In July last year, when Starmer became prime minister, the Labour Party was rigidly on the defensive about Europe. Brexit was seen as an electorally unstable issue for a party whose priority
US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House has brought renewed scrutiny to the Taiwan-US semiconductor relationship with his claim that Taiwan “stole” the US chip business and threats of 100 percent tariffs on foreign-made processors. For Taiwanese and industry leaders, understanding those developments in their full context is crucial while maintaining a clear vision of Taiwan’s role in the global technology ecosystem. The assertion that Taiwan “stole” the US’ semiconductor industry fundamentally misunderstands the evolution of global technology manufacturing. Over the past four decades, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), has grown through legitimate means
Today is Feb. 28, a day that Taiwan associates with two tragic historical memories. The 228 Incident, which started on Feb. 28, 1947, began from protests sparked by a cigarette seizure that took place the day before in front of the Tianma Tea House in Taipei’s Datong District (大同). It turned into a mass movement that spread across Taiwan. Local gentry asked then-governor general Chen Yi (陳儀) to intervene, but he received contradictory orders. In early March, after Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) dispatched troops to Keelung, a nationwide massacre took place and lasted until May 16, during which many important intellectuals
RSS