Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers yesterday called for enhanced anti-fraud measures for banks and apps to protect consumers from phishing attacks.
They made the remarks at a news conference calling for amendment to the Regulations Governing the Standards for Information System and Security Management of Electronic Payment Institutions (電子支付機構資訊系統標準及安全控管作業基準辦法) at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
A woman surnamed Wang (王) told reporters that she lost NT$190,000 (US$6,436) after giving away her credit card information to buy farm-to-table fruit.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Eight fraudulent purchases were made within two hours with her card on a payment app, she added.
Other victims of the scheme have been identified after she reported the crime to police, Wang said.
Online credit card fraud is a rising problem that drained an estimated NT$1.93 billion from the Taiwanese economy last year, Legislator Chung Chia-pin (鍾佳濱) said, citing the National Credit Card Center.
The regulations — which include standards for consumer safeguards in electronic transactions — have not been updated since 2014 and cannot be utilized to regulate apps, Chung said.
User authentication, transaction limits, mechanism for detecting suspicious transactions and arbitration processes, as well as other necessary measures, are not regulated for purchases on apps, he said.
“The regulations need to keep up with the times,” he added.
Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said the regulations should be amended to make apps and banks bear some responsibility to protect people from being defrauded while using their services.
Regulators should require businesses to send customers messages that warn about fraud and create an anti-phishing task force to investigate app fraud, the lawmakers said.
Department of Consumer Protection ombudsman Wang Chih-hung (王志宏) said the agency would ask the Ministry of Economic Affairs to start drafting the amendments needed and organizing a task force.
Tsao Yu-ling (曹玉翎), a senior officer at the Financial Supervisory Commission, said the proposal for warning messages would be discussed with the Bankers Association and a trip wire system for suspicious transactions would be discussed with the Banking Bureau.
Lee Yung-yi (李勇毅), a senior official at the ministry, said officials would examine whether revisions to the standard form for contracts with banks and apps should be changed to improve consumer protection.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai