A telephone number allegedly used to harass a woman after she bought a book critical of the Chinese Communist Party at Eslite Bookstore has been blocked, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday, adding that it is to meet with telecoms today to discuss filtering calls that do not have valid country codes.
Here I Stand Project deputy secretary-general Cynthia Yang (楊欣慈) on Sunday told a news conference that she received a phone call from a number that started with 28.
The callers claimed to be from Eslite Bookstore and wanted to know what Yang thought about If China Attacks (阿共打來怎麼辦), a book she purchased online in February, she said, adding that they promoted Chinese “united front” rhetoric.
Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Digital Affairs on Monday launched an investigation to determine whether personal data were leaked in the incident.
NCC Deputy Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said that 28 is not a valid country code and the number has been blocked.
“We have been blocking scam calls that begin with Taiwan’s country code, 886, but we should also be blocking calls that do not have a valid country code,” Wong said.
The commission is to discuss with telecoms how to filter such calls without compromising the exchange efficiency, he said.
Eslite Bookstore on Monday said in a statement that it has reported the data security breach to the police and pledged to comply with the government’s investigation into the incident.
Separately, Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co yesterday warned about scam messages that spoof the company’s name.
“Some drivers received text messages that appeared to have been sent by Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection about unpaid parking fees,” the company said. “The messages read: ‘We want to remind you that you have an unpaid parking fee of NT$45. The fine for failing to pay before the due date would be NT$300. Please enter the last three digits of your phone number, click on the link and make the payments.’”
“We do not send such messages, because people who use eTags to pay parking fees pay automatically via credit card,” it said.
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
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS