The Ministry of the Interior plans to push forward a cross-ministerial program to crack down on fraud and scams in the nation, Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) has said.
Lin made the remarks during a recent interview with the Liberty Times (sister newspaper of the Taipei Times).
Citing crime statistics from the National Police Agency, Lin said about 23,000 cases of fraud and scams were reported yearly before 2020, but the number surpassed 29,500 last year, with total financial losses exceeding NT$7.33 billion (US$240.8 million).
Photo courtesy of the Yunlin County Police Department
“These are only cases that have been reported, and there could be more,” he added.
In Australia and the US, the number of reported fraud cases started to increase in 2018 and 2019, soaring about 180 percent in both countries, while the number of reported cases in Singapore has climbed 280 percent, he said.
Citing ministry data, Lin said the most common types of scams reported in Taiwan from the beginning of last year to last month were online shopping scams and investment scams, totaling more than 7,000 cases.
The most common type of online shopping scams involved one-page Web sites, while investment scams mostly targeted people on social media, Lin said.
Scams have become a global trend, as fraudsters can take advantage of the anonymity and convenience of social media to commit transnational crimes, he said.
The problem needs to be addressed with new approaches, Lin said, adding that it can no longer be dealt with by police alone.
New forms of technology-based crimes need to be handled by cross-ministerial efforts that include the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Ministry of Justice, he said.
“Fraud and scams will no longer be deemed misdemeanors,” Lin said, adding the anti-fraud program would seek to amend laws to stipulate heavier punishments for fraudsters, and make e-commerce sites, social media platforms, financial institutions and telecoms share the responsibility of preventing such crimes.
“The national anti-fraud team should not only include the government, as there is greater strength in working together,” he said, adding that he would meet with the private sector to discuss the matter.
Lin said a bill is being drafted to require people who take out advertisements for investment products to use their real names.
Furthermore, as some banks have been found to have much more fake bank accounts than other lenders, the program would require banks to enhance internal management and monitor abnormal accounts, he said.
The program would delay fund transfers using ATMs to designated accounts by up to two days to give authorities time to block the transfer if the sender becomes aware of a scam, he added.
The anti-fraud efforts would have four aspects: recognizing, blocking, punishing and preventing fraud, Lin said, adding that taking swift action would be crucial for each aspect.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Citing examples, he said Facebook owner Meta Platforms reported nearly 25,000 scam posts in Taiwan between August last year and Thursday, while Google Taiwan has reported more than 400 cases this year, which were removed within a day of being confirmed, as swift removal is key to preventing people from clicking on the fraudulent links.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) yesterday said that along with illegal drugs and guns, fraud has become a national security issue that corrupts Taiwan’s social values and fuels mistrust among Taiwanese.
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