Taipei: Seven fraud cases linked to the NT$10,000 (US$322) cash handouts distributed by the government to eligible Taiwanese citizens and permanent foreign residents have recently come to light, as reported by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on Wednesday. The cash disbursements are part of a broader initiative to alleviate the financial strain resulting from U.S. tariffs and inflation.
According to Focus Taiwan, the MOI revealed that as of Monday, 56 scam advertisements have been removed and 50 accounts involved in fraudulent activities have been suspended. The ministry’s efforts are aimed at curbing the fraudulent exploitation of the cash handout program. One significant case involved a phishing email that redirected victims to a counterfeit website mimicking the official government’s cash handout portal, leading to unauthorized transactions exceeding NT$50,000.
Further complicating the situation, four cases involved scammers impersonating prosecutors and police, resulting in individual losses ranging from NT$510,000 to NT$3.67 million. Additionally, two cases aimed at seizing bank accounts were reported, although they caused no financial damage, as per the MOI’s statement.
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) confirmed that individuals who completed registration or qualified for direct deposit and passed system verification would see the NT$10,000 payment transferred to their accounts by Wednesday.
The Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee is set to convene on Thursday, inviting representatives from the MOI, MOF, Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), and Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) to discuss interagency strategies to combat fraud related to the handout program.
In a written submission to the Legislative Yuan, the MOI detailed that on September 11, the National Police Agency (NPA) directed police agencies across Taiwan to form task forces to monitor and report fraudulent advertisements, text messages, social media accounts, and websites associated with the program. Between September 12 and Monday, these efforts resulted in the removal of 56 scam advertisements, the suspension of 50 accounts, and the disabling of three counterfeit Ministry of Finance websites.
MODA has taken proactive measures by coordinating with the MOF, NPA, FSC, and Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) to establish a rapid system for blocking fraudulent websites. MODA reports that the FSC performs daily monitoring of suspicious sites and forwards confirmed cases to the National Treasury Administration (NTA) for verification. Upon confirmation, fraudulent domain names are suspended to prevent public access.
To further safeguard against fraud, MODA has preemptively registered 109 domains for one year, which could have potentially been used by scammers to mimic the government’s official cash handout sign-up website.