Scam tactics have evolved, despite a decrease in the number of reported cases over the past year, with scammers repeatedly targeting flood relief efforts, the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.
Scam rings were using fake fundraisers to swindle people who wanted to aid the disaster relief efforts in Hualien County, after a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) overflowed and swept into Guangfu Township (光復), the bureau said.
People who want to donate money or supplies, or join rescue efforts, should follow official procedures, the bureau said, cautioning people against clicking suspicious links or believing strange messages.
Photo copied by Yao Yueh-hung, Taipei Times
Scams related to disaster relief efforts are different from other scams, which often lure people with the promise of high returns, it said, adding that relief effort scams exploited people’s empathy to lower their guard, and offered thank-you rewards, altruistic statements or public welfare engagement as bait.
For example, a scam ring posted on social media that it was providing free rain boots for volunteers, but required a NT$58 delivery fee, it said.
Once they get in touch with a person on Line and get the delivery fee, scammers would ask the person for their bank account number so they could “authenticate” their name and include it in a “recognition list,” but the scammers just want to create a dummy account using the victim, the bureau said.
Another scam involved deceiving people into sending them money by claiming that income from the sale of sports lottery analysis reports would be donated to disaster relief campaigns, it said.
Data from the agency’s “165 anti-fraud dashboard” showed that the number of reported scam cases averaged 470 per day nationwide last month, down by 22 percent from 601 cases over the same period last year.
The total financial loss also decreased to about NT$223.92 million (US$7.29 million) from about NT$396.8 million over the same period, down by 44 percent, the data showed.
Although there was a declining trend in scam cases, scam tactics continued to evolve, the bureau said.
Investment scams accounted for 36.29 percent of financial losses, followed by catfishing scams at 22.06 percent and fake authority scams at 13.01 percent, it said.
As the NT$10,000 universal cash handout would soon be implemented, people should be aware that the government would not notify them of the matter via e-mails or text messages, nor would it ask them to send money via automatic teller machines or Web banking systems, the bureau said.
It advised people to keep the “four noes” in mind: No clicking links, no entering information, no remitting money and no forwarding messages.
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