Adamant that she is not being tricked, Liu Shu-chen (劉淑貞), a former employee at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), posted a message on Facebook seeking to raise funds to allow CIA Director David Petraeus to come to Taiwan and marry her.
According to an exclusive report in the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) on Monday, Liu has so far given about US$30,000 to a person claiming to be Petraeus and has been listed as a securities fraud suspect after she tried to cash in 37 travelers’ checks, each valued at 500 euros (US$686), that the alleged Petraeus sent her.
The two met over Skype, a computer-to-computer calling platform.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
Liu is convinced the person claiming to be Petraeus is who he says he is and showed reporters a ring with the name “David” inscribed on it, which she said he sent her.
“Petraeus” allegedly told her he would soon come to Taiwan on a military transport and help resolve the forgery allegations.
The media and other concerned parties should not be so quick to call “David” a liar, Liu said.
“How could a scamming group have so much resources at its disposal?” she asked, adding that the man who claimed to be Petraeus was deliberately misleading the media into believing he was a scammer to keep cross-strait issues calm and “protect their love.”
In response to the alleged Petraeus’ displeasure at media footage of their Skype conversation on Monday, Liu said on Tuesday that CNN should also interview her about the incident, because that would force him “to come to Taiwan sooner.”
Liu posted the content of television reports on the matter on her Facebook page on Tuesday, which garnered concerned comments from friends who said she lost more than she gained by quitting her job late last month.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the comments,” Liu said.
In addition to online friends, police in Hsinchu sent several officers to visit Liu and sat with her for hours, trying to persuade her that she was the victim of an international scam and that the man’s professed “love” was in fact a way of conning her out of her savings.
However, Liu remains convinced the whole thing is real and would not hear of it, and refused to have her conversation with the officers recorded.
Police reports said Liu has made eight wire transfers to Spain and Nigeria totaling US$50,000 since July 1 and that the Web cam IP address used by the alleged Petraeus could be fake.
In terms of international jurisdiction and criminal investigation responsibilities, the police are working with the Criminal Investigation Bureau’s International Division.
Liu’s former employer said on Tuesday that she had worked at TSMC as director of engineering for research and development.
TSMC confirmed that Liu quit her job at the end of last month.
Reactions on the Internet have been largely unsympathetic, with some netizens leaving messages telling Liu to face the music, or other more sarcastic messages telling her not to waste other people’s money for the sake of her own happiness.
Netizens also pointed out that the man who claimed to be Petraeus had been using the identity of the CIA director to scam for sex and money as long ago as last year, using two IP addresses originating in Ghana.
The message was also seen on English-language site Cyber Crime Ops last year warning of a scammer claiming to be the then-US four-star general, with a New Zealander, using the alias “yellis12,” sharing her experiences and hoping others would not fall for it.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
‘LONE WOLF’: The suspect was difficult to locate, as he did not use a cellphone, did not contact family and often lived in abandoned sites or parks, police said Taipei police on Thursday morning arrested a man accused of numerous burglaries and at least 14 incidents of sexual assault spanning more than 20 years, in what might be the nation’s most notorious crime spree in recent years. Sixty-year-old Tu Ming-lang (涂明朗) — who was yesterday placed in judicial detention, after a judge determined he was a flight risk without a fixed address — faces multiple charges of sexual assault and burglary, police said. A task force comprised of various law enforcement agencies arrested Tu as part of an investigation into an April 28 burglary in Daan District (大安), in which a
Ninth graders were asked to define “trolling” on this year’s standardized exam, reflecting efforts to make the test better reflect real-life situations. Adjustments to this year’s Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students were revealed on Sunday, after the last cohort of students completed the test over the weekend. The Ministry of Education solicited feedback about the test from teachers, who approved of the new question in the English portion. Not only was question No. 20 “very much in line with real-life situations,” but it also used a new style in which students were asked to ascertain the correct dictionary definition based
Taiwan is on alert for monkeypox, a rare viral disease that has caused 87 infections in 11 countries over the past three weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Saturday. The WHO on Friday convened an emergency session to discuss a sudden outbreak of monkeypox in North America and Europe. Since the beginning of this month, 87 confirmed cases and 28 possible cases have been identified in 11 countries. The countries with the highest case counts are England with 29 cases, and Portugal and Spain with 23 each. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease occurring primarily in the tropical rainforest areas
ADAPTING: The CECC said the policy change would happen this week at the earliest, while PCR testing stations would be used to diagnose people and prescribe drugs The general public would be able to use a positive rapid test result that has been confirmed by a doctor for COVID-19 diagnosis starting later this week at the soonest, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 79,441 new local infections and 53 deaths. The center on Saturday announced that it was expanding the rapid test diagnosis policy to people living in indigenous townships and outlying islands, starting today. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, yesterday said the policy might be further expanded to include “all people” this week, at the soonest. He
RSS