Google has agreed to expedite its removal of fraudulent advertising that targets users with falsified celebrity endorsements, following a meeting with Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌), the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
Scam operators often buy misleading investment advertisements on Google, YouTube and other online platforms, which contain fake celebrity endorsements and links leading to fraudulent offers, Lin said.
“They use pictures and videos of celebrities to appear as if the ads were approved by them. Once unwitting users click on these links, they are guided to join group chat rooms set up by scammers on the Line app,” Lin said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
These methods and similarly misleading ad designs appear repetitively in users’ feeds, he added.
Consumers must be taught how to identify such scams, while Internet platforms must also immediately remove these ads once they are notified, Lin said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau has provided Google with a list of 165 celebrities that have reported identity theft, with the aim of assisting the platform to quickly remove scam ads featuring their likenesses, Lin said.
Meanwhile, the bureau is creating a reference book featuring various forms of identified scam advertisements to help Google find and remove high-risk ads, he said.
The bureau and Google have appointed representatives to communicate with each other as issues arise, and to jointly organize workshops related to fighting online crime, Lin said.
Prior to Lin’s meeting with Google management in Taipei, the ministry also met with representatives of Meta, Line and e-Commerce operator MOMO, he said.
“We all agree that cracking down on scams is an urgent issue, and a precision attack on scam ads must be launched on popular platforms,” Lin said. “Through the joint efforts of government and the private sector, we can deter scams using more comprehensive approaches.”
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it is fully aware of the situation following reports that the son of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai (薄熙來) has arrived in Taiwan and is to marry a Taiwanese. Local media reported that Bo Guagua (薄瓜瓜), son of the former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is to marry the granddaughter of Luodong Poh-Ai Hospital founder Hsu Wen-cheng (許文政). The pair met when studying abroad and arranged to get married this year, with the wedding breakfast to be held at The One holiday resort in Hsinchu
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon this morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan between Friday and Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The storm, which as of 8am was still 1,100km southeast of southern Taiwan, is currently expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, the CWA said. Because of its rapid speed — 28kph as of 8am — a sea warning for the storm could be issued tonight, rather than tomorrow, as previously forecast, the CWA said. In terms of its impact, Usagi is to bring scattered or
An orange gas cloud that leaked from a waste management plant yesterday morning in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) was likely caused by acidic waste, authorities said, adding that it posed no immediate harm. The leak occurred at a plant in the district’s Environmental Science and Technology Park at about 7am, the Taoyuan Fire Department said. Firefighters discovered a cloud of unidentified orange gas leaking from a waste tank when they arrived on the site, it said, adding that they put on Level A chemical protection before entering the building. After finding there was no continuous leak, the department worked with the city’s Department
RSS