A man who illegally set up a mobile base station in a rental car to distribute phishing messages was fined NT$4 million (US$125,984) for contravening the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
This was the first time that the telecom regulator issued an administrative fine to an individual for setting up an unauthorized base station.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau’s Telecommunications Investigation Corp on Nov. 18 last year arrested a man surnamed Kuo (郭) near Taipei’s Zhongshan MRT Station for allegedly carrying a mobile base station in a rental car to distribute phishing messages, NCC Vice Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) told a news conference yesterday afternoon.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
The illegal mobile base station was confiscated on the spot, he said.
“Recipients of the messages were told that Far Eastern Toll Collection Co (FETC), the operator of freeway toll tag eTag, failed to collect their toll fees, and they needed to re-enter billing information on their credit cards,” Wong said. “They were subsequently instructed to click on a link to a fake Web page and enter their credit card information.”
Kuo and his cohorts added the illegally obtained credit card information to their mobile payment system, allowing them to purchase mobile phones or other high-end electronic products, the commission said.
Telecommunications Investigation Corp further identified through its 165 Anti-Fraud Hotline database 30 more similar cases that happened from September to November last year, in which victims’ credit card information was stolen after clicking on a link in messages allegedly pretending to be sent by FETC or E.Sun Commercial Bank, the commussion said.
The collective financial losses were estimated to exceed NT$3 million, it said, adding that the Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office on April 10 indicted Kuo and 11 other individuals for contravening the Criminal Code and Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例).
After examining the results of the investigation conducted by Telecommunications Investigation Corp, the NCC decided that Kuo had contravened Article 52 of the Telecommunications Management Act for using part of radio frequency band in 1,800MHz without first securing approval from the commission, Wong said, adding that the fine ranges from NT$1 million to NT$10 million.
“By using an illegal mobile base station, Kuo interfered with the use of the frequency band by its legal user, illegally collected personal data from 22 people and reaped illegal profits topping NT$2 million,” Wong said. “As such, the commission decided to toughen the sanction by setting the fine at NT$4 million.”
The mobile base station that Kuo used was able to overwhelm the reception of signals sent by the frequency band’s legal user, as it is a 2G system, which does not have a two-way verification system, Wong said.
The commission is still investigating how Kuo and his cohorts obtained the illegal mobile base station — whether it was imported from overseas or manufactured in Taiwan, he said, adding that the fine for illegally importing or manufacturing radio frequency products is between NT$10,000 and NT$1 million.
Kuo imported five mobile base stations from China, and prosecutors are still tracing four other base stations and more scammers, some media reports said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS