As people try to keep themselves entertained at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, many Taiwanese gamers have been reporting online scams, particularly those involving the sale of popular game consoles and related merchandise, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.
The nation’s anti-fraud hotline has received 71 reports since last month of scams involving sales of Nintendo Switch consoles, games and merchandise.
Of those reports, 56 were conducted via Facebook and 10 on Professional Technology Temple (PTT), the nation’s largest online bulletin board, neither of which require netizens to show their real names, the bureau said.
In one case, a 30-year-old man in Taichung tried to buy an Animal Crossing: New Horizons edition of the Switch console and the Ring Fit Adventure game for NT$9,840 via PTT, but he never received the products, the bureau said.
After he a received a copy of an invoice via the Line app purportedly showing the merchandise had been shipped, he wired payment to the seller, who then blocked him on Line, the bureau said.
Buyers should exercise caution in online transactions, the bureau said.
They should avoid purchasing expensive merchandise from strangers and should use third-party payment processors for online purchases, it said.
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