離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Fraud committed every 24.7 minutes: ministry
People arrested on fraud charges are escorted by police in Taipei on July 9. Photo: Yao Yeu-hung, Taipei Times
TARGETED: The majority of fraud victims in the first half of this year were service-sector employees, unemployed people and students, the MOI said
/ Staff writer, with CNA
A total of 10,542 fraud cases were reported in Taiwan in the first half of this year, which translates to 58.2 cases per day, or one every 24.7 minutes, government statistics released yesterday showed.
However, fraud incidents declined compared with the same period last year, when one case was reported every 24.4 minutes, the Ministry of the Interior （MOI） said.
This year, 21.3 percent of the cases involved imposters, which is the most common type, while 16.8 percent were scams in which people were asked to cancel installment payments at ATMs, it said.
Of the 11,215 fraud suspects arrested between January and last month, 71.3 percent were men, of whom 73.8 percent were between 18 and 39 years of age, the ministry said.
The ministry said that 28.7 percent of the suspects were unemployed and 26.1 percent were working in the service sector.
There were 17,012 victims of fraud, of whom 50.7 percent were women, the ministry said, adding that 38 percent of the women were between 18 and 29 years of age.
There were 170.2 victims per 100,000 people in the 18 to 29 age group and 93.78 victims per 100,000 people in the 30 to 39 age group, the ministry said.
The victim rate was higher among young people because of greater use of mobile messaging apps in that demographic, it said.
The majority of fraud victims — 61.9 percent — were service-sector employees, unemployed people and students, the ministry said.
While the number of reported fraud cases dropped from 23,612 in 2011 to 18,772 in 2013, it rose again in 2014 to 23,053 due to a prevalence of scams for small amounts involving Line and mobile payment services, it said.
That number fell to 21,172 in 2015 amid efforts by the National Police Agency to curb fraud, but climbed again to 23,175 last year, the ministry said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
