Fifteen people have been detained or questioned in connection with a cross-strait criminal ring specializing in identity theft, including Chen Wei-chih (陳韋志), allegedly the head of the group, law enforcement officials said yesterday.
The New Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) and local police conducted joint raids over the past few months, with the suspects facing charges for fraud, money laundering, forgery and breaching computer security in contravention of the Criminal Code and the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), officials said.
Chen conspired with hackers in Taiwan and China to steal customer data and payment details, CIB investigators said, adding that Carrefour, CPC Corp, Taiwan, Eslite Bookstore, food and grocery delivery services, books.com.tw, Global Mall Co and Amazon.com were among the companies targeted.
Photo: CNA
Chen, 31, who has a Taiwanese ID as well as US citizenship, used the code name “Cola,” investigators said.
His top aide, surnamed Hsieh (謝), 43, and two others were denied bail following questioning.
Chen and two Chinese hackers broke into online sites to steal data from members’ accounts to facilitate unauthorized online purchases, investigators said.
CIB officials said that they have contacted their counterparts in China to apprehend the two Chinese under the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議).
The group made illegal profits of more than NT$10 million (US$320,307) per year by targeting hundreds of Taiwanese for about six years, the CIB said.
Chen set up fake sites that targeted people would be directed to by an operation known as phishing, it said.
Once a person’s details were entered into the fake site, the suspects had access to their account details, which they would use to make purchases, it said.
Chen created a fake Amazon site and the group illegally obtained several million credit card transaction records and personal data, mainly from people in the US, Canada, Japan and Thailand, the CIB said.
With the details from the stolen accounts, they bought high-price items such as luxury bags, jewelry, alcohol, perfume, PlayStation 5 consoles and electronics to sell on social media sites.
“Chen’s criminal ring colluded with hackers in Taiwan and China to make illicit gains, which damaged the nation’s financial order and transaction framework,” the CIB said.
“The suspects stole data from many countries around the world,” it said. “It was due to the diligent efforts over many months by CIB investigators to build the case against the group and enable the prosecution, which would restore justice.”
People should ensure that they have secured their online transaction activity and be alert to phishing sites, it said.
Take great care with personal information and do not install apps of unknown origin, it added.
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