Prosecutors have indicted four alleged members of a Taichung-based cyberfraud ring that used deepfake technology to scam at least 55 Chinese nationals out of NT$200 million (US$6.33 million), the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office filed the indictment against the four in November last year on charges of contravening the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), and Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), and for Offenses of Impairment to Use of Computers (妨害電腦使用罪), the bureau said in a statement.
The Taichung ring worked with a fraud gang in China to acquire the personal information of Chinese nationals online, the bureau said.
Photo copied by Chen Chien-chih, Taipei Times
Using the stolen identities, the Taichung ring was able to create videos with the likeness of Chinese victims using deepfake technology that were then used on China's digital yuan (e-CNY) mobile banking applications, it said.
The deepfake faces were used to gain access to the e-CNY banking accounts of users and transfer funds, the bureau said.
Authorities began an operation to dismantle the ring after receiving a tip-off in mid 2024, it said.
Police then focused on a man, surnamed Lu (盧), who rented a unit in Taichung's Beitun District (北屯) as a base for the scam operation with two other people, it said.
In November 2024, investigators discovered that the ring was financed by a 34-year-old man, surnamed Lin (林), who was in Thailand at the time, the bureau said.
The ring also created social media accounts to be sold to fraud factories operating outside Taiwan, it said.
Lin was arrested in Thailand in May last year and repatriated to Taiwan in June, police said, adding that his three accomplices in Taiwan were detained from November 2024 to June last year, with authorities seizing more than NT$120,000 in cash, 320 smartphones and six computers.
Citing the bureau’s fifth cybercrime division, United Daily News reported that the case marks the first time a fraud ring using Starlink and deepfake technology has been uncovered in Taiwan.
So far, no Taiwanese have been identified as victims, the report said, adding that the bureau has shared information from the case with the Financial Supervisory Commission to prevent fraudsters from using similar techniques to target Taiwanese.
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
Reports of Taiwanese going missing, being detained or interrogated, or having their personal liberties restricted in China increased about fourfold annually last year, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Last year, 221 Taiwanese who traveled to China were reported missing, were detained and interrogated, or otherwise had their personal freedom restricted, up from 55 the previous year, the council said. Reopening group tours to China would be risky, as it would leave travelers with no way to seek help through official channels after Beijing shut down dialogue between the associations tasked with handling cross-strait tourism, the MAC said. Taipei’s Taiwan Strait Tourism
RSS