The National Police Agency (NPA) yesterday released statistics showing that the impersonation of government officials and online auction scams are increasingly common. It urged the public to be vigilant and to remember to check the “165” anti-fraud hotline.
In the first quarter of this year, scams including the impersonation of judiciary and health department officials via telephone calls accounted for the highest amount of swindled money at NT$330 million (US$10.75 million), NPA Chief Secretary Chen Chia-chang (陳嘉昌) said.
The other most frequent schemes were investment hoaxes, online dating and match-making scams, bank ATM installment payment plan scams and fraudulent representation by callers as an old friend or a relative, Chen said.
“Overall, these top five types in the first quarter of the year reached a total of NT$850 million in swindled money. This is a rising trend when compared with NT$770 million from these scams in the same period last year,” Chen said.
NPA officials said the other most frequently reported cases were online auction and other e-commerce frauds, along with scams related to shady agencies offering female escorts and sexual services.
Chen said that among the groups most vulnerable to the top-ranked scams are homemakers, people over the age of 50 and retired seniors — particularly retired civil servants and educators.
“Some of the victims are now in dire straits, having lost their life savings,” Chen said. “Of the 280 cases reported in the top two types of scams in the first quarter, most targeted retired seniors, who lost a total of NT$399 million, or an average of NT$1.42 million each.”
He urged the public to be on alert on weekends when many scam telephone calls are made, since government offices and banks are closed and targeted victims are unable to make calls to verify what they are told.
In impersonations, Chen said the fraudulent judiciary officers usually tell the victim to cooperate with an investigation into financial transactions or irregularities with a bank account, requiring victims to reveal passwords or to transfer money out of their account.
Others involved the impersonation of officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, when fraudsters deceive people by offering national health insurance payment reimbursements. Others enticed victims to reveal their bank account numbers and passwords at ATMs.
The NPA urged the public to call the 165 hotline — the national reporting center for telephone fraud and Internet scams — for reporting, verification and advice.
It added that users can also visit www.165.gov.tw.
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