The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said it aims to block all calls from overseas using fake Taiwanese telephone numbers and play a scam warning whenever people receive international calls on landlines or mobile phones.
The telecom service regulator made the announcement after a series of anti-fraud initiatives it launched succeeded in filtering a majority of scam calls.
The commission on May 3 began asking telecoms to filter phone calls from +886 0 to +886 8 numbers on landlines and mobile phones.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
This month, telecoms started blocking calls from numbers beginning with +886 9 for mobile phone users.
Since July 17, landline users have heard a scam warning when they receive calls from numbers beginning with +886 9, and since Sept. 15 they have heard the same warning when they receive international calls, regardless of the number.
In the second half of last month, telecoms began broadcasting scam warnings for mobile phone users for calls from numbers beginning with +886 9, the commission said.
However, they have not yet succeeded in blocking potential scam calls on landlines from +886 9 numbers, nor have they begun broadcasting warnings for mobile users when they receive international calls, the commission said.
The nation’s three major telecoms — Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan Mobile and Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET) — were invited by the commission to present a report on the filtering of international calls.
Wu Ming-tung (吳明東), vice president of network and system architecture at Taiwan Mobile, said that the telecom blocked 76 percent of mobile phone calls from numbers beginning with +886 9 from Oct. 13 to Sunday last week.
Chia Chung-yung (賈仲雍), vice president of Chunghwa Telecom’s network technology group, said that the company had witnessed a 68 percent decrease in calls from numbers beginning with +886 9 on its mobile phone services from Sept. 15 and a 98.5 percent decrease on landlines from July 17.
About 50 percent of numbers beginning with +886 9 are blocked on mobile phones daily, Chia said.
Jason Kuo (郭峻杰), vice president of FET’s Network Technologies and Operations Division, said that the telecom has used artificial intelligence to help block scam calls.
On average, it has blocked 97,400 scam calls per month, 194,000 scam messages and 2,540 suspicious Web sites, he said.
NCC statistics showed that the number of international phone calls had fallen from 41.83 million in July to 24.13 million last month, while the percentage of phone calls from numbers beginning with +886 had dropped from an average of 36.1 percent during the first six months of this year, to 7.14 percent last month.
“Thanks to collaborative efforts between the government and telecoms, we can filter scam calls and non-scam calls from numbers beginning with +886 9 and block scam calls. From a technical perspective, this is a great leap forward,” NCC Vice Chairman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said.
If scammers use a Taiwan Mobile phone number to call a Chunghwa Telecom customer by first rerouting the call through another country, Chunghwa can check with Taiwan Mobile whether the user is actually using its roaming service in another country, Wong said, adding that Chunghwa Telecom can then block the call if the caller is not overseas.
Taiwan is the first country to curb telephone fraud by blocking calls and giving warnings, Wong said, adding that the commission has two other objectives to accomplish.
“First, we aim to comprehensively block calls from overseas that are using fake Taiwanese phone numbers. Second, scam warnings would be available for all international phone calls, both on landlines and mobile phones. If we can reach these two objectives, it would be almost impossible for scammers to commit fraud over the phone,” Wong said.
Previous initiatives were funded through the Executive Yuan’s second preparatory fund, which allocated NT$135 million (US$4.17 million) to the commission, Wong said, adding that the three telecoms matched the fund by jointly providing NT$135 million.
“We will brief the Executive Yuan’s anti-fraud task force about our new plan, which is technically feasible. However, we need additional funding to procure equipment and adjust the system. We hope the Executive Yuan will support us and make the service available as quickly as possible,” he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS