Some smartphone owners in Taiwan are sharing a trick aimed at battling the growing number of scammers targeting users of popular free mobile messaging service Line — responding to questionable messages with key words aimed at making scammers give up.
Police said there have been a growing number of reports in recent months of Line accounts being hacked, with users receiving messages purportedly sent by friends or family members asking for money or for the target to buy online game credits for them.
Anyone who responds to such messages is likely to discover that their name, national ID number, cellphone number and other sensitive information have been stolen by scamming groups.
Netizens say since most scamming groups in the region are based in China, the best way to respond to questionable messages is with terms that are very sensitive or antagonistic for Chinese — such as “Tiananmen Square Massacre,” “Taiwanese independence,” “Falun Gong” and “Tibetan independence.”
All these terms are considered sensitive by Chinese authorities.
However, some netizens said that while such phrases may prove annoying to scammers, the most effective way for Line users to stop the problem is to change their app settings to block messages from unknown senders.
Meanwhile, authorities said Line users should exercise caution when asked to click on links sent by people who are not on their friend lists and to contact their provider to cancel the ability to pay small amounts via the app.
Authorities have also urged Line users to contact the anti-scamming hotline 165 to verify information sent by unknown users.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau in April urged Line users to be wary of messages coming from the number “080 903 1088,” saying scammers were using the number to create fake accounts at online auction sites.
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