More than 5,000 people have been scammed more than once this year, accounting for 5 percent of fraud cases, with investment and online shopping scams the most common type of fraud, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said.
A woman in her 70s, surnamed Lin (林), was scammed after joining a Line app investment group that promised “guaranteed profits,” the bureau said.
She was unable to get back any of the money she invested and subsequently reported the fraud to the police, it said.
Photo: CNA
Lin was scammed again by another fraud investment group four months later, losing a total of more than NT$20 million (US$654,772), it said.
In another case, a 50-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳) was scammed by three people he met through online dating apps, who convinced him to invest in cryptocurrency and stocks under the pretense of “building a better future together.”
Chen later found that he could not withdraw any of his investments and reported to the police that he had been scammed.
Meanwhile, a 40-year-old man, also surnamed Chen (陳), was scammed by a fraudster reselling concert tickets online, the bureau said.
The fraudster told the victim to prepay for the ticket and meet in person at the concert venue to pick it up, but stopped responding to messages when he showed up to collect it.
The bureau said that the man fell victim to a similar scam a couple months later.
The bureau advised people to check the 165 anti-fraud dashboard at 165dashboard.tw/ before investing or making purchases online.
On the Web site dedicated to fraud prevention, people can compare real and fraudulent cases, identify potential risks and avoid becoming victims, it said.
The bureau also warned the public about people impersonating police or prosecutors.
In May, fraudsters claiming to be police called an 80-year-old man, alleging that illegal funds had been moving through the man’s bank account and ordered him to report to the police station.
They even claimed that they were conducting “anti-fraud education” by telling the man that if police ask for a video or audio statement it must be a scam, as statements are only valid when collected in person at a police station.
Citing his limited mobility, the man said he was unable to go to the police station, and the fraudsters said they would make an exception by accepting a phone-recorded statement this once.
Then they told the man that his assets needed to be temporary managed due to the criminal activity and convinced him to transfer NT$37 million.
The fraudsters later impersonated a prosecutor and convinced the man to pledge a house as collateral and hand over an additional NT$10 million loan.
After speaking with his daughter in the US, the man realized he had been scammed and reported the case to the police.
This type of scam usually targets more vulnerable people in their 50s or older, the bureau said.
Bureau data showed that in the first half of this year there were 113 cases of impersonation scams with losses of more than NT$10 million, with the majority occurring in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taichung.
People should not believe suspicious calls made by someone claiming to be a prosecutor, police officer, judge or investigator, the bureau said.
Any request to make a recorded statement is a fraud, there are no exceptions, it added.
If the call sounds suspicious, people should hang up and check with the 165 anti-fraud hotline or local police station, the bureau said.
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