Last week, I received a Line message from my friend that said: “Are you asleep?” followed by, “My family members are sleeping nearby, can we send messages instead of calling?” I replied: “Sure.” My friend then sent another message saying: “I reached my online bank transfer limit, and I was wondering if you can lend me NT$100,000 [US$3,037]. I can pay you back tomorrow after I get the money. Is that okay?”
After reading that message, I realized that my friend’s Line account might have been hacked. I immediately took a screenshot of our conversation and sent it to my friend via SMS so he could confirm whether he had sent those messages. My friend quickly called me to tell me his Line account had been hacked. Since he could not log into his Line account, he asked me if I could let our other friends know what was happening so they would not get scammed.
I learned that days earlier, my friend had received a phone call from another friend saying that their pet was participating in a beauty pageant and was currently in second place. They asked him to help vote and sent a Web site link. It was a scam — after clicking on the link, my friend’s Line account was hacked.
Recently, several of my close friends and family members have had their Line accounts hacked by scammers — their accounts are then used to scam their friends and family. As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, scammer groups are becoming more active — it is important to remain vigilant.
According to the patterns I have encountered thus far, the scams usually involve requests to click an online link to help with voting — these might include pet beauty pageants, childrens’ artwork competitions, voting events for companies or schools, and offers for lucky draws where one can win prizes by filling out forms. When someone clicks one of those links, they are prompted to log in to their Line account, because “voting requires Line account authorization.” They have good intentions — after all, they just want to help by voting — but they end up unknowingly causing harm to their friends and family. The best way to protect yourself from those scams is to avoid joining any online voting activities, never share your password with others and always verify situations you encounter before doing anything.
Two weeks ago, I received a phone call from someone who said: “Dad, my phone broke and I got a new one. Make sure you write down my new number.” I replied: “Sorry, who is this?” The caller answered: “It is your son!” and proceeded to say my son’s full name. I was truly stunned, because the caller’s voice was about 80 percent similar to my son’s. I purposefully responded: “Hey, your classmate ‘Cheng X’ is looking for you. Make sure you call him back when you can.” The caller said: “Okay! I will call my classmate in a second.”
At that point, I was certain that the caller was a scammer — that classmate “Cheng X” was actually my grandson’s name.
After this, the caller continued: “Dad, once you have added me on Line, let me know your password.” I answered: “I do not have the Line app on my phone.” At that point, the caller hung up. I immediately contacted the National Police Agency’s (NPA) 165 anti-scamming and fraud prevention hotline to report the incident and provided the scammer’s phone number so they could be traced and have their service cut off.
NPA data showed that the top five categories of scams are fake investment scams, online shopping scams, scams where fake buyers cheat sellers, fake dating scams and fake lottery scams. Last week, Dable Taiwan (德博公司) — a South Korean advertising company — was on the news for collaborating with scam groups in placing fraudulent advertisements. The Criminal Investigation Bureau looked into the matter and discovered that four advertising companies were helping scammer groups place fraudulent ads. Over the past two years, those companies have already collected more than NT$290 million in advertising fees from scammer groups.
The rampant spread of scams could be attributed to the combination of lenient legal penalties and unethical companies that collude with scammer groups in placing fraudulent ads. As a result, the Internet and social media platforms such as Facebook are littered with fraudulent ads related to investments, online shopping and dating.
With the new year comes new hope. My hope is that the government would take action to combat scams and that the Legislative Yuan would increase the budget for anti-scam operations. Only then would the public have a home where they can live and work safely and peacefully.
Cheng Jen-hung is a former Control Yuan member and an honorary chairman of the Consumers’ Foundation.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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