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New fraud measures promised

Fraud suspects will be facing more vigorous enforcement and punishment from law enforcement personnel, Vice Minister of Justice Hsieh Wen-ting (謝文定) said yesterday.

"By law, the mastermind of a fraud scheme can be sentenced to up to 10 years in jail. Accomplices can be sentenced to terms ranging from three to seven years," Hsieh said.

The vice minister also said that law enforcement officers handling fraud cases will from now on prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law, both by speeding up the legal process and pursuing the maximum allowable sentences.

Hsieh's remarks came in the wake of an increasing number of cases in which individuals identifying themselves as gangsters have reached victims on their mobile phones and told them that "an enemy" has hired the caller to "do something" to the victim unless money is paid into a specified bank account.

In other cases, fraudsters have led victims to believe that their family members had been involved in car accidents or other kinds of trouble and that money had to be paid into an account immediately in order for help to be provided.

In all these cases, the common theme is asking the victim to transfer money into an account through an ATM.

On Friday evening, the Cabinet invited the heads of various government offices, including the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), to a conference at which approaches to fraud were discussed.

The MOF said that effective June 1, a limit of NT$100,000 (US$3,030) will be imposed on ATM transfers, unless the fund transfer is requested by both the sender and the recipient.

The MOTC said that, in addition to strict law enforcement measures, a mechanism will be established to identify people who purchase more than five prepaid cellular phone cards at one time.

Also, at least two photo identification cards will be required for registration of a telephone account. This will apply to both land lines and mobile phones.

Democratic Progressive Party Lawmaker Chiu Chuei-chen (邱垂貞) said that he has been a victim of fraud.

Chiu said that he received a mobile phone phone call from an unidentified person last Wednesday. The man told Chiu that he was a policeman and needed Chiu's credit card information because a tip indicated that the security of one of his credit cards had been breached. Chiu suspected that the call was fraudulent and did not provide the information.

However, the next day, another man called him and identified himself as "Secretary Yao from the Presidential Office" and told Chiu that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) wished to see him immediately.

Since this call came at about the time that Chen would be considering new Cabinet members, Chiu thought that the call could be a sign that officials were considering him for the Cabinet.

Chiu left his Taoyuan residence and proceeded to the Presidential Office and only realized that he had been misled when the military police guarding the office denied him entry.

"It might have been the same person," Chiu said.

"He might have been taking revenge because his attempt at fraud had not succeeded," Chiu said.
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