NO FRIEND OF MINE: The Criminal Investigation Bureau urged people to be on the alert when they receive any telephone call or text message that is requesting money
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 03, 2020
By: Chiu Chun-fu and Dennis Xie / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Amid a rising number of fraud cases, the Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday urged the public
to double check the identity of “relatives or friends” who ask for money in a telephone call.Fraudsters cash in on the Lunar New Year holiday by impersonating an acquaintance to ask that a victim transfer them money, with older people making up nearly 70 percent of victims, the Crime Prevention Affairs Division said.
Citing a case, officials said that a Taipei man, surnamed Chang (張), received a telephone call from someone claiming to be the brother of his ex-wife who was in urgent need of cash.
Without verifying the identity of the caller, whose voice Chang said was very similar to his ex-wife’s brother’s, Chang added him to his Line app and transfered NT$50,000 to his account, believing that he would be repaid the next day, the officials said. [FULL STORY]