Fraud reports last month reached 13,673, with losses totaling more than NT$6 billion (US$192.2 million), the National Police Agency’s anti-fraud dashboard showed.
According to the National Police Agency, among the total of 13,673 fraud cases handled last month, the most common was “online shopping fraud” with 4,141 cases, followed by “fake investment fraud” with 1,528 cases.
Regarding financial losses, the most common type was “fake investment fraud” with NT$2,483,195,000, followed by “fake dating (investment fraud) fraud” with NT$1,148,861,000.
Photo: Taipei Times
It should be noted the “universal distribution of 10,000” has become a new scam tactic. As the date for the nationwide cash handout of NT$10,000 approaches, a growing number of people has received calls suspected of being scams.
An expert also warned the public to be especially alert to five real-estate fraud schemes.
The five are using false housing reports to trick property owners into selling at lower prices, using fake buyers to gain property ownership, impersonating property owners to obtain funds from unwitting homebuyers, using bogus debt claims that result in court-ordered auctions and impersonating real-estate agents to defraud clients, said Chen Tzu-chieh (陳賜傑), an assistant manager at Yung Ching Rehouse Co’s business management department.
The first one is the most common, he added.
“Most people sell a house only once or twice in their lifetime, with the interval lasting more than a decade or maybe 20 to 30 years,” Chen said.
“As they often have only a vague idea about their property’s value, they can be easily taken advantage of by malicious real-estate agents and property speculators, who would use outdated or selected data to trick the owners into selling their properties at prices that are much lower than their market value. They would then resell the properties at market value or even higher,” he said.
Just a price difference of NT$100,000 per ping (3.3m2) would translate into a loss of about NT$3 million for a 30 ping property, Chen said.
To avoid real-estate traps, people should consult the Ministry of the Interior’s Real Estate Transaction Price Web site and free housing reports available at Yung Ching and other certified real-estate firms.
They should compare price quotations from multiple certified realtors, insist on using a price-payment guarantee when buying or selling pre-owned homes, and activate notifications for any changes in housing registrations at land administration offices, Chen added.
Other major fraud schemes include online shopping scams, fake investments, romance schemes and fake buyers defrauding sellers, the National Police Agency said.
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