A suspicious-sounding advertisement sent via text message recently caused a domestic dispute that led to a wife seeking a divorce.
Last month, a Yunlin County resident, surnamed Lin (林), found a message on his wife’s mobile phone that began: “Has your watch slowed down and caused you to be late for a date?”
Lin immediately asked his wife if she was having an affair. Lin’s wife had no idea what he was talking about and chose to ignore him. This act enraged Lin and he beat his wife.
The complete message read: “Has your watch slowed down and caused you to be late for a date? Dial 117 from your mobile phone and you will have Taiwan Standard Time delivered to you.”
Although Lin apologized and asked his wife for forgiveness, the wife, who checked into hospital with severe injuries, decided to file for divorce.
“I understand they [the telecom carriers] were doing this to make money, but they should not use such sensational content,” Lin said.
In response, Chunghwa Telecom denied it had sent text messages encouraging people to use the 117 service. Other telecom carriers said the text messages may have used some “cutesy” phrases, but argued that any normal person could tell that it wasn't a message about an extramarital affair.
The National Communications Commission said people can file a request with telecom carriers not to receive such text message services anymore.
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