Police have urged people to check in on elderly family members to help prevent financial fraud, following a case in which a 63-year-old woman with dementia was swindled out of NT$160 million (US$5.26 million) over three years.
The Taipei City Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division said that a criminal ring began targeting the victim — a Taipei resident surnamed Chang (張) — in 2022, convincing her to invest in sheng ji wei (生基位, or “living tombs”) based on Taoist and feng shui beliefs.
Police said the scammers promoted the investment as a way to “secure good fortune, wealth and longevity” by harnessing positive energy through the symbolic burial of personal items such as hair, nails, teeth, blood or clothing in a “living cemetery” — typically a mountain site with an open view.
Photo: Liu Ching-ho, Taipei Times
They said the ritual had to be performed at an auspicious time to achieve maximum effect.
Chang, who has dementia, was persuaded to purchase a living tomb for herself and her family. She initially withdrew cash from her bank accounts to pay “initiation,” “processing” and “tax” fees to the fraudsters, police said.
Investigators said that the suspects later convinced her to take out high-interest loans, using her properties as collateral, to continue making payments.
Over three years, she reportedly made more than 300 transfers to the group and accumulated more than NT$80 million in loans on her assets.
Investigators estimated that the woman had paid more than NT$160 million to the criminal ring over three years.
Her family only discovered what had happened last month and reported the case to police for assistance, they said.
Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association (TADA) secretary-general Chen Yun-ching (陳筠靜) said that people with dementia require greater support when making financial or other major life decisions.
“People with Alzheimer’s and their families must remain vigilant and increase their awareness of fraud prevention,” Chen said. “They should learn to recognize common scam tactics, develop habits of verifying information and ensure that people with dementia do not make major financial decisions alone. Families should communicate regularly, consult trusted relatives or friends, and form a support team to assist in decisionmaking.”
Families can adopt multilateral financial management methods to better organize and monitor assets, Chen said.
It is advisable to apply to the Joint Credit Information Center to receive credit reports, which can help prevent debts from getting too high, she said, adding that elderly people can appoint trusted relatives or professional trustees, including those offered by bank trust services, to help manage their assets, she said.
The Taipei City Police Department on Sunday said that officers dismantled 49 fraud rings in August, arresting 415 suspects and seizing NT$38.88 million in illegal gains.
Police also said they had prevented losses of about NT$240 million through early intervention.
Criminal Investigation Division captain Lu Chun-hung (盧俊宏) said the majority of cases involved online shopping and payment fraud, investment scams and romance scams linked to dating and matchmaking platforms.
People should be cautious of anyone promising high returns from investment groups or urging them to join joint investment ventures.
“If someone offers to send a person to meet you in person to collect investment funds, it is almost certainly a fraud operation run by a criminal group,” Lu said.
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