The Criminal Investigation Bureau on Monday warned people to be on their guard against online fraud after a woman complained of being defrauded of more than NT$1.5 million (US$51,177) while buying books online.
Online shopping has boomed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but people should be wary of people claiming to be a bank customer service staff, the bureau said in a press release on Monday.
After spending NT$310 on the online bookstore books.com.tw (博客來), the woman, surnamed Wu (吳), last week received a call from a person who claimed to be a customer service staff asking for her Line account to deal with an issue about the payment.
Photo: Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
The caller — using the phone numbers +886-226590001 and +886-227263325 — told Wu the issue would be handled by the bank through Line.
A person claiming to be a bank teller then called to ask Wu to cancel her installment plan using an ATM or an online bank, saying it was a procedure required by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).
Wu then transferred 11 payments to the account provided by the person using an online bank and 45 payments using an ATM.
She only realized that she had been defrauded and reported the matter to the police when she lost contact with the caller after the payments were made successfully.
In another case, an engineer surnamed Ke (柯) received a call from a person who claimed to be a customer service representative of books.com.tw, saying that he had been charged NT$5,800 for a VIP membership instead of NT$600 for his order.
The person told Ke that the bank would ask him to cancel the wrong payment via online transfer.
Ke later received calls from six different numbers beginning with +165 and +886, with the callers claiming to be a bank or post office customer service staff.
Ke transferred three payments, totaling NT$850,000, according to the instructions provided by the callers using an online bank.
Statistics provided by the National Police Agency showed that from Jan. 1 to Wednesday last week, there were 198 cases of fraud related to canceling installment plans, with people losing NT$195.89 million in total, an increase of more than NT$55.76 million from a year earlier.
Fraud rings often pretend to be staff of well-known companies and ask customers to cancel installment plans using an app or ATM, citing FSC regulations, human error or computer errors as excuses, the bureau said.
People should watch out for numbers beginning with +2 or +886 and hang up the phone immediately when they hear the caller mention “canceling the set-up using an ATM,” “mistakenly scanning a barcode,” “misplacing an order,” “duplicated payment” and “unlocking the account using an ATM,” the bureau said.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
RSS