Police arrested 12 people on Wednesday and Thursday in Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Chiayi on suspicion of being involved in a telecom fraud ring that targeted migrant workers, the Central Investigation Bureau said on Friday.
Eight Vietnamese and their spouses are suspected of using the personal information of migrant workers to register phone numbers that were then sold to other telecom fraud operations, the bureau told a news conference.
Bureau Deputy Commander Lin Ming-chun (林明俊) said that the suspects sent Vietnamese sales agents to locations frequented by migrant workers, where they obtained their personal information by offering to help them register for a mobile phone number free of charge.
Many migrant workers are unfamiliar with the application process and do not speak Chinese, so they often rely on someone else to help them apply for telephone and Internet services, Lin said.
Police said that members of the ring would help the migrant workers obtain a legitimate phone number, but they would then use that information to apply for additional numbers that would be sold to other fraud organizations.
These organizations rely on numbers that are difficult to trace when they are attempting to trick people into transferring money to them, Lin said.
By analyzing a database of phone numbers reported to the 165 Anti-Fraud and Internet Scam Hotline, police discovered that a large proportion of recent telecom fraud activity came from numbers registered to migrant workers, Lin said.
Following an investigation, police launched a series of raids earlier this week, Lin said, adding that the suspects are expected to face charges of forgery and fraud, and would be turned over to district prosecutors after they are interrogated.
Police said that they are not yet certain how many people were scammed using the phone numbers, but they are investigating the matter.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it