Eight people suspected of involvement in a cross-border telecommunications fraud operation have been arrested in police raids of three call centers in Taichung, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said on Monday.
The bureau said that it received a report about two months ago about alleged cross-border telecom fraud call centers established by an organization led by a 39-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳).
The organization was allegedly defrauding people in China by having callers pose as public security officials to persuade them to part with their money, it said.
The bureau, in conjunction with police in New Taipei City and Taichung, formed a task force to investigate, it added.
Investigators found that Chen had since February rented several apartments in the city as accommodation for the organization’s members, the bureau said.
After several days of surveillance, police raided three locations in the city, arresting the eight suspects, it said.
Mobile phones, notebook computers, computer network cards and cash were also seized in the raids, it added.
Hundreds of people are believed to have fallen victim to the fraudsters, who have reaped nearly NT$10 million (US$327,794) in illegal gains, initial police estimates showed.
After preliminary questioning, six of the suspects were detained and held incommunicado, while the other two were released on bail, the bureau said.
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Kaohsiung Tourism Bureau audited six hotels in an effort to prevent price gouging ahead of Korean band BTS’ concert tour in the city scheduled for Nov. 19, 21 and 22 this year. The bureau on Friday said that the audits — conducted in response to allegations of unfair pricing posted on social media — found no wrongdoing. These establishments included the local branches of Chateau de Chine, Hotel Nikko, My Humble House, and Grand Hai Lai, it said, adding that the Consumer Protection Commission would have penalized price gougers had the accusations been substantiated. The bureau said the Tourism Development Act
The military yesterday said it has located the flight data recorder, or black box, of an F-16V jet that disappeared off eastern Taiwan earlier this month, and it would soon deploy a salvage team to try to retrieve it. Air Force Command Headquarters said that while it had pinned down the location of the black box, it was still searching for the aircraft’s sole pilot, air force Captain Hsin Po-yi (辛柏毅). Without providing details, the air force said it had located the black box days after detecting some intermittent signals and would now engage a team of professionals to retrieve it. The air
RSS