Fraud is a growing problem in the nation, and the government would budget NT$7.3 billion (US$228.57 million) next year to tackle the issue, President William Lai (賴清德) said on Tuesday during a forum hosted by the Chinese language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times).
The government’s budget for anti-fraud measures next year would be 4.8 times that of this year, Lai said.
The government would target fraud through policing, interdepartmental and international cooperation, and public involvement, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
“Our goal is for nobody to be a victim of deception. We are treating this like a war against fraud,” he said.
The government’s first step would be to target gang activity, he said, adding that gangs had contributed to the endangerment of public security, gun violence, drug use and fraud.
To tackle fraud, the government would implement cooperation between ministries, law enforcement, customs officials, maritime authorities, and leaders in the digital, finance, and telecommunications sectors, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
An “anti-fraud command center” would be established as a platform to coordinate efforts, he said.
“Only through combining our efforts, sharing information, dividing labor and fostering cooperation can we achieve results,” Lai said.
Taiwan must also establish cooperation with other countries in the area of crime-fighting, he said.
“We must improve channels of communication with the public. The government regularly publishes data on the victims and property losses in fraud cases,” he said. “We should also provide channels for the public to give feedback related to anti-fraud measures. We need to be innovative and encourage people to take the initiative.”
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), who also attended the forum, said that while the government could not guarantee the elimination of all fraud, it would toughen laws to discourage such activity.
Separately, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Peng Jin-lung (彭金隆) said the commission had implemented measures to tackle fraud.
Those measures included controls on debit, credit and virtual financial accounts, information campaigns and the establishment of the Virtual Asset Service Provider Preparatory Office, he said.
The commission had also established an active search and report mechanism for advertisements of illegal investment activity, he said, adding that 49,763 cases had been reported as of July 26.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau regularly communicates with social-media operators on the removal of such advertisements and on measures to strengthen the review of investment-related advertisements, he said.
Additional reporting by Lee Wen-hsin and Wang Meng-lun
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS