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HIV blackmail turns out to be a hoax

Blackmailers have been using syringes purportedly containing HIV-contaminated blood to threaten their victims, a lawmaker said yesterday.

But KMT legislator Huang Hsien-chou (黃顯洲) revealed yesterday that the "blood" in the syringe accompanying a letter sent to one Taichung resident turned out to be soy sauce.

Huang said in Taichung yesterday, that a man, Liao (廖), three weeks ago received a blackmail letter. The letter demanded that Liao remit NT$200,000 to a bank account. In the computer-typed message, the blackmailer said he had AIDS and would cause the Liao family to be "infected with AIDS in a short time" if Liao failed to pay the money.

Along with the letter was a 10ml syringe containing liquid that looked similar to blood.

Liao reported the incident to police, but received a second letter with another syringe several days later. The blackmailer raised his demand to NT$250,000.

The victim then sought assistance from the lawmaker and the syringes were sent to Veterans General Hospital (榮民總醫院) in Taichung for analysis, Huang said.

The lawmaker said the fact that the syringes contained soy sauce rather than HIV-contaminated blood indicated the blackmailer was not an AIDS sufferer and posed no threat to Liao.

Huang said Liao and his family have lived in fear since receiving the first letter, and that Liao didn't dare go out at night and had sent his wife and children out of town.

The Taichung City Police Bureau said it has looked into the bank account the blackmailer had wanted the money to be deposited into, but found it was a "dummy account" making the real owner difficult to trace.
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