Criminal groups are increasingly targeting Malaysians, who they try to recruit with false advertisements, to use them in cyberscams and investment fraud schemes in Taiwan, police said.
Pingtung County’s Chaozhou Police Precinct alone has detained three Malaysians, who are facing prosecution over the past few months, police said.
Tainan City Police Department’s First Precinct last week said it captured three alleged money collectors, two Taiwanese and a Chinese Malaysian.
Photo: screen grab from the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Facebook page
The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said that recent cases indicate a shift for international criminal groups, who in the past targeted Taiwanese by promising them high-paying jobs overseas.
It seems like such groups now also target Malaysians for their scam operations in Taiwan.
“The method is similar. Criminal groups use social media and share enticing adverts promising earning good money with no academic qualification requirements. Some adverts promise all-expense-paid trips abroad,” said a CIB official who spoke on condition of anonymity on Saturday.
Chinese Malaysians make good targets for criminal groups, as they can speak Mandarin, they said.
When arrested and questioned by police, some suspects said they were offered jobs, so they took the opportunity, the official said.
Some suspects said they had received some training before coming to Taiwan.
“They believed it was an easy money opportunity, in which they would only work for a few days, then return to Malaysia,” they said. “So, they agreed to work as money collectors in Taiwan.”
Malaysians can enter Taiwan visa-free for up to 30 days, so some Malaysians were targeted by adverts on social media promising paid flights and accommodation, they added.
From August to this month, more than 30 Malaysians were arrested across Taiwan for allegedly working as money collectors, the official said.
Additional reporting by Chang Jui-chen and Wang Chieh
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
HACKERS’ MARKET: Chat logs about Taiwan and documents outlining ways to take over online accounts were leaked from a company that sells data from hacks Taiwanese cybersecurity specialists found 577 leaked documents which show that the Chinese Communist Party is engaging in “cognitive warfare” against Taiwan through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns, a documentary released last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK showed. The filmmakers behind Tracking China’s Leaked Documents said they spent six months visiting seven countries, including Taiwan, where they interviewed members of TeamT5, a malware research and cybersecurity firm, which found the leaked documents. TeamT5 said they discovered a string of mysterious URLs on the social media platform X, which they suspected could be accounts created by hackers or people who leaked data, which led
RESOURCE RICH: Taiwan is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and has up to 30 gigawatts of the potential energy, of which 10 gigawatts could be economically viable Academia Sinica and CPC Corp yesterday began drilling the nation’s first deep geothermal well in Yilan County’s Yuanshan Township (員山). The 4km-deep well is expected to take 18 months to complete and has an estimated investment of NT$337 million (US$10.54 million), Academia Sinica President James Liao (廖俊智) said. “While Taiwan has up to 30 gigawatts of potential deep geothermal energy, with an estimated 10 gigawatts being economically viable, only by digging wells can we determine the actual amount of commercially viable geothermal energy,” Liao said at the project’s opening ceremony. Data collected during and after the excavation process would be used for future
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes