A woman in New Taipei City was defrauded of NT$2.64 million (US$81,116) by scammers who used artificial intelligence (AI) apps to deceive her into believing that she was interacting with Hong Kong entertainer Andy Lau (劉德華).
The New Taipei City Police arrested a women believed to be part of the scamming operation, after the victim, a women surnamed Lin (林), and her family members reported their suspicion that Lin had been scammed.
Lin, 62, was quoted by the police as saying that she is a long time fan of Lau, who flourished in the Hong Kong film and entertainment business in the 1980s and 1990s.
Photo copied by Hsu Sheng-lun, Taipei Times
She said the scamming started last year when she visited what she believed was Lau’s personal fan Web site, and that a few minutes later, she received a message form someone claiming to be Lau.
Lin said she did not believe it was him until she had a video call with him, her statement to the police showed.
Lin said that “Lau” spoke to her about coming to Taiwan in the summer, and would need NT$2.6 million to pay for accommodation, security, dinner and other expenses, adding that he told her that he is asking fans to donate money to make the visit happen.
Lin borrowed money and wired NT$2.64 million to the bank account “Lau” provided her.
Lin’s family members were suspicious that it was a scam, and took her to the local police precinct to report it.
The police said it was a fake, using AI to generate Lau’s voice, face and movements.
To catch the scammers, the police asked Lin to ask them if she could make a NT$150,000 payment in cash in person. She arranged with the scammers to meet at a park in Sanchong District (三重) last week.
A woman surnamed Chuang (莊) showed up at the public park to receive the cash, and was arrested by plainclothes police officers.
At first, Chuang said she was a member of staff of Lau’s publicity firm, but could not answer any follow up questions in any detail.
Police said she admitted that she was instructed to collect the money, but denied it was part of a scamming operation.
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