Police were investigating 18,204 cases of scams last month, accounting for NT$12.6 billion (US$385.43 million) in lost funds, the National Police Agency (NPA) said, citing its 165 Dashboard Web site.
The Web site — which is linked to the NPA’s 165 anti-scamming and fraud prevention hotline — tracks cases the police are working on and an estimate of lost funds.
The caseload last month rose 0.3 percent, or 54 cases, from a month earlier, while the funds lost rose 4.9 percent, or NT$596.33 million, the Web site showed.
Photo: Reuters
Hsinchu City had the highest density of residents scammed, with 103.84 cases per 100,000 people, it showed.
Hsinchu County reported the most significant increase of funds lost last month at NT$990.98 million, up 164.6 percent from a NT$616.43 million rise in October, it showed.
New Taipei City, Taipei and Taichung lost the most money to scams at NT$2.27 billion, NT$1.89 billion and NT$1.57 billion respectively, it showed.
Taichung had the most cases last month at 2,738, up 5.3 percent, or 138 cases, from October, it showed.
In terms of financial loss per 100,000 people, Hsinchu County, Taipei and Hsinchu City were the top three at NT$167.23 million, NT$75.58 million and NT$62.45 million respectively, the data showed.
Police last month investigated 205 groups — 88 fewer than in October — and arrested 1,698 people over scamming activities, the data showed.
Taipei had the most cases closed, with 44 instances and 371 arrested, the data showed.
New Taipei City confiscated NT$161 million in illegal proceeds, the most of any administrative region last month, the Web site showed.
However, the nationwide total of funds seized was down 86.6 percent, or NT$4.06 billion, at NT$619 million from a month earlier, it showed.
The police prevented NT$1.37 billion from going to scammer groups last month, up 3.2 percent, or NT$40.77 million, from a month earlier, it showed.
Taipei prevented NT$325.32 million from entering scammers’ pockets, the site showed.
The NPA took down 3,775 Web sites linked to scammers, shut down 6,911 adverts and froze 700 telephone numbers linked to scammers, it showed.
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,
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
RSS