The Criminal Investigation Bureau on Monday issued a warning about social media scams, citing a woman who had lost her Line account after clicking a link on Instagram and handing over her username and password.
The woman, surnamed Wang (王), received a personal message on Instagram from someone she believed to be a friend asking her to vote for a painting created by a child, the bureau said.
Confident that it was her friend, she clicked the link and then entered her Line username and password, as well as her mobile phone verification code, when a page popped up inquiring about her personal information, it said.
Photo copied by Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
Wang soon realized that her Line account had been hacked and her friend had been impersonated by a fraudster, who then masqueraded as Wang and attempted to borrow money from her friends on Line, it said.
She warned her friends and family of the incident promptly enough to prevent them from being deceived, it added.
Scammers exploit people’s trust in friends and family to attempt to take over their social media accounts and defraud them of money, the bureau said.
It urged people not to click suspicious links and provide personal information, even if the message is sent from friends or family.
People should check whether their friends or family are being impersonated, especially when they are asking for money, it said.
People can visit the National Police Agency’s Web site (https://165.npa.gov.tw/#/article/A/1518) to learn more about how to prevent Line accounts from being hijacked or what to do when their accounts have been hacked, the bureau said.
If a someone is concerned about a potential scam, they should call the 110 police or 165 anti-fraud hotlines immediately for assistance, it added.
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