Over the past few years, fake investment scams have flooded major social media forums and chat platforms across the Internet, creating a major social dilemma. Those ads try to lure people with promises of high profit and low risk, baiting them into joining huge investment chat rooms that ultimately convince them to unwittingly give large amounts of money to complete strangers before kicking them out and blocking them.
The government needs to respond to that issue by adding addendums to the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), in particular by implementing real-name systems for advertising. Even then, scammers could still use overseas and shell companies to continue placing fraudulent ads, creating challenges for the enforcement of new regulations.
Shell companies are often located outside of Taiwan’s jurisdiction, making it difficult for law enforcement to trace those groups’ identities. Law enforcement once hoped to limit overseas advertising, but authorities were concerned such a move might mistakenly kill off legitimate advertising as well. That concern has led to the stalling of additional legal provisions, allowing criminal rings to continue using overseas resources to advertise fraudulent investments.
To effectively clamp down on fake investment scams, police are urging the Ministry of Digital Affairs to implement source management, demanding that platforms enact strict audits of advertisers. A feasible method would be for platforms to first restrict clients who have uploaded investment scam advertising before from ever again publishing ads on their platform.
Second, the ministry could enforce heavy penalties on platforms that have not complied with the law. Implementing those two actions would raise the costs for scammers seeking to use overseas or shell companies, effectively reducing the volume of fraudulent investment ads.
Criminal Investigation Bureau statistics showed that out of all fake investment ads published on platforms last year, Facebook came was the most-used platform, with more than 119,181 instances. Those ads often claim to be vouched for by well-known or respected company leaders, financial gurus, Internet celebrities and politicians to entice people to join the fraud group’s Line investment chat groups, which in turn fleece viewers.
Those data reveal the severity of fake investment scams and social media platforms’ insufficient response in terms of ad monitoring and management. Although new regulations have placed higher demands on those platforms, their actual enforcement has yet to be seen.
The ministry should bolster supervision of these platforms to ensure the strict enforcement of real-name systems and identity verification mechanisms for advertisers. Platforms must do their best to use technological means to identify and filter fraudulent ads, and reduce the transmission of fraudulent ads at the source, thereby helping lower the workload placed on grassroots anti-fraud personnel. Through multiparty cooperation, we can clamp down on the flood of fake investment scams, and protect the public’s property and assets.
Lin Cheng-wu is a junior-high school teacher.
Translated by Tim Smith
In a summer of intense political maneuvering, Taiwanese, whose democratic vibrancy is a constant rebuke to Beijing’s authoritarianism, delivered a powerful verdict not on China, but on their own political leaders. Two high-profile recall campaigns, driven by the ruling party against its opposition, collapsed in failure. It was a clear signal that after months of bitter confrontation, the Taiwanese public is demanding a shift from perpetual campaign mode to the hard work of governing. For Washington and other world capitals, this is more than a distant political drama. The stability of Taiwan is vital, as it serves as a key player
Much like the first round on July 26, Saturday’s second wave of recall elections — this time targeting seven Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers — also failed. With all 31 KMT legislators who faced recall this summer secure in their posts, the mass recall campaign has come to an end. The outcome was unsurprising. Last month’s across-the-board defeats had already dealt a heavy blow to the morale of recall advocates and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), while bolstering the confidence of the KMT and its ally the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). It seemed a foregone conclusion that recalls would falter, as
The fallout from the mass recalls and the referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant continues to monopolize the news. The general consensus is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been bloodied and found wanting, and is in need of reflection and a course correction if it is to avoid electoral defeat. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has not emerged unscathed, either, but has the opportunity of making a relatively clean break. That depends on who the party on Oct. 18 picks to replace outgoing KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫). What is certain is that, with the dust settling
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) on Thursday last week urged democratic nations to boycott China’s military parade on Wednesday next week. The parade, a grand display of Beijing’s military hardware, is meant to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. While China has invited world leaders to attend, many have declined. A Kyodo News report on Sunday said that Japan has asked European and Asian leaders who have yet to respond to the invitation to refrain from attending. Tokyo is seeking to prevent Beijing from spreading its distorted interpretation of wartime history, the report
RSS