Minister of the Interior Lin Yu-chang (林右昌) yesterday said he is considering meeting with representatives of Google, Meta and other large international platforms to address a rise in phishing advertisements for investment scams.
Lin made the remarks before a joint meeting of the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee and Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee to brief lawmakers about the ministry’s proposed amendment to the Organization Act of the Ministry of the Interior (內政部組織法).
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇) said the amount of funds lost in online investment scams has topped NT$175 million (US$5.76 million) per month.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Scammers use names and head shots of celebrities to lure investors on Facebook, she said, adding that identity theft is so prevalent that even Hsieh Chin-ho (謝金河), chairman of Wealth Invest Weekly and Wealth Media magazines, has asked for the government’s assistance on the matter.
Police and prosecutors cannot do much when dealing with large international platforms, as they are reluctant to offer relevant documents, Wang said.
Lin said that online investment scams must be tackled from the source, adding that police would not be able to keep up with scammers if they only address the problem after people have clicked on phishing advertisements.
“Personally, I believe that online platforms should require sponsors of investment ads to register using their real name. Meanwhile, sponsors must personally file applications to run investment ads,” he said.
Meta, Google, Line and other large international operators are responsible for ads they run on their platforms, Lin said.
“These multinational corporations are making money in Taiwan and should bear social responsibility,” Lin said.
“The government’s attitude is that they cannot simply make money here by disrupting social order. I would not rule out meeting these platform executives in person,” he said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission has invited Meta and Google representatives to address the issues generated by online investment scams, he said.
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