《TAIPEI TIMES》Cabinet touts NT$1.3bn to curb fraud

By Chung Li-hua and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

The Cabinet yesterday said it is to allocate NT$1.3 billion （US$42.39 million） in supplementary funding to a plan to counter fraud.

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The Cabinet told a post-meeting news conference in Taipei that the program, dubbed the “next-generation anti-fraud action plan version 1.5” would include changes that were introduced after an internal assessments to raise the effectiveness of the previous version of the plan, unveiled in July last year, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng （羅秉成） said.

The previous version involved government action at multiple levels to identify, prevent, intercept and punish fraud via public education, financial controls, policing and new legislation, he said.

The improved plan would add measures to coordinate government agencies’ efforts, and enlist the help of non-governmental organizations and enterprises to fight fraud, he said.

Legislative and technological tools to enforce the measures would be devised to neutralize organized fraud groups before they commit crimes and reduce the risks of people falling victim to scams, he said.

The new version seeks to lower the capability of fraud groups to spread false information via telecom technology and use banking services, he said.

The new version would require advertisers to register with their real names, enable the removal of fraudulent ads, introduce telephone number masking and block foreign numbers connected to scam groups, Lo said.

The Ministry of Digital Affairs would be asked to devise methods to limit transactions linked to gaming and lock in-game credits after detecting suspicious activity, he said.

The funds would be used for public education campaigns to reduce people’s susceptibility to fraud schemes with a focus on helping people spot scammers and avoid spreading messages on their behalf, Lo said.

The Cabinet has drafted amendments to the Criminal Code and other laws concerning human trafficking, private information protection and prevention of money laundering to target criminal organizations involved in fraud, he said.

“The entire nation should be alert and ready to protect one another against scams,” he said. “Anti-fraud efforts must be a popular movement.”

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES