Taiwan’s three main telecoms are enacting measures to allow them to track users’ locations using updated National Immigration Agency (NIA) information to prevent abuse of prepaid international phone cards for fraud, the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
While prepaid phone cards, especially for international use, are beneficial for international travelers and migrant workers, they are also a loophole exploited by scamming groups, the NCC said.
The Fraud Crime Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), which passed its third reading last month, would “plug” the loopholes by requiring the telecommunication industry to verify clients’ passport numbers and names before providing international roaming services.
Photo: Tsai Si-pei, Taipei Times
Roaming services can be denied if it does not appear that the applicant has entered Taiwan, the NCC said.
The commission met with Chunghwa Telecom to discuss measures to prevent scams and their efficacy.
New systems are expected to come online by the end of next month, Chunghwa Telecom said.
The NCC said that it would meet with the other two top telecoms, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone, to discuss the issues.
Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone said that they each had their measures to counter scamming that should be available at the end of October.
NCC Chief Secretary Huang Wen-che (黃文哲) said that the companies would be able to apply for access to NIA data to confirm whether an applicant has legally entered Taiwan and has not “hotwired” into the system.
The NCC has also suggested that telecoms restrict or temporarily suspend services for migrant workers who drop out of contact, Huang said.
Asked whether there is a list of high-risk vendors to look out for, Huang only said that last year there was a significant rise in the fraudulent use of China Unicom prepaid cards sold in Hong Kong.
However, the trend has not repeated this year, he said, adding that the NCC would issue standard definitions of high-risk vendors, such as those that sell unidirectional prepaid cards and cards without the need for photo identification.
Meanwhile, the Risk Management Guidelines for Telecommunication Affairs at Telecom Business (電信事業受理申辦電信服務風險管理機制指引) has been amended to prompt telecoms to warn people if their cards register more than 50 text messages sent in a day — excluding commercial texts.
Chunghwa Telecom hoped to set the bar for “expressing concern” at 500 messages for multimedia messaging services, but the NCC has asked it to consider lowering the threshold, Huang said.
The NCC has also asked that Chunghwa Telecom develop more effective identification verification measures and step up management of cases of abnormal behavior, in addition to its warning messages for international phone calls and other issues, he said.
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