Sat, Aug 10, 2024 page2

• Most do nothing after scam call, survey shows

  INACTION PROBLEM: A criminal justice professor said that people should report scam calls, otherwise fraud attempts would increase, because it is a low-risk crime

  • By Tsai Ssu-pei and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  More than 80 percent of people would do nothing after receiving a call from a scammer, a survey conducted by the National Communications Commission (NCC) showed.

  The NCC’s “Telecom Market Report” for last year surveyed the experiences of Taiwanese regarding telecom and Internet fraud.

  More than 60 percent of respondents said that they had encountered scams via telephone or the Internet, the survey showed.

  

  People use smart phones in an undated photograph.

  Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times

  Scams via mobile phone made up the largest proportion at about 80 percent, followed by landline calls and instant messages, it showed.

  People have become used to telecom and Internet fraud, but they respond passively to scam calls and messages, the report said.

  More than 80 percent of respondents would “hang up the phone or do nothing,” while nearly 20 percent said they would “warn friends and family,” the survey showed.

  Only 9.2 percent said that they would call the 165 anti-fraud hotline, while 2.6 percent said they would call 110 or report the situation to police, it showed.

  Scammers most commonly seek to impersonate social accounts to trick people into buying game cards from convenience stores or steal transaction information from online shopping platforms and impersonate a customer service agent to deceive people into transferring money to a bank account they control, the NCC said.

  Other tactics include manipulating people on dating apps and extorting them, it added.

  Fraud rings tend to use scam calls or messages to invite people to join an online group or install an investment app with promises of high returns on, it said.

  There were 37,823 incidents of fraud reported last year, an increase of 8,314 incidents, or 28.17 percent, from a year earlier, National Police Agency data showed.

  That figure included an increase of 5,233 incidents of investment fraud, the police data showed.

  A woman surnamed Wang (王) yesterday said that she frequently receives suspicious messages offering investment opportunities, which she ignores, as reporting cases via the 165 hotline or to police is time-consuming.

  A man surnamed Hu (胡) said that he was scammed, but as several days had passed since he had transferred money, he did not report the case, as he believed that the police would not be able to help.

  Ming Chuan University professor of criminal justice Wang Po-chi (王伯頎) earlier this week said that Taiwanese tend to do nothing when they are victimized by fraud out of the fear of being laughed at, or being labeled “greedy” or “foolish.”

  Going through the experience usually involves personal issues and financial investments, Wang said.

  Moreover, police might not know about a new fraud tactic until a case is reported, he said.

  People who receive scam calls or messages should report the case to the police otherwise fraud attempts would become more rampant, as the risk is low, he added.
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