Scam Group Colludes with Telecom Shop for "Credit Card to Cash"; Police Bust Money Laundering Center, Arrest 21
Police busted a scam ring that tricked victims into raising credit limits for "card-to-cash" transactions at a physical telecom shop, arresting 21 and seizing over NT$40 million in illegal profits.
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- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 15:15
- 🔍 Collected: April 10, 2026 at 16:00 (45 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 06:46 (230h 45m after Collected)
The Eighth Investigation Corps of the Criminal Investigation Bureau pointed out today that the scam syndicate first lured victims using common tactics like "fake investments" and "fake dating." Once the victims' savings were exhausted, they encouraged them to increase their credit card limits and precisely guided them to a physical storefront run by a 30-year-old man named Guo for "swiping cards for cash."
Police investigations revealed that Guo and others used this physical store as a cover, acting as the scam syndicate's "exclusive cashing hub." When victims engaged in fake credit card purchases, Guo extracted high transaction fees. After victims obtained the remaining cash, they handed it over to money mules or bought cryptocurrency to transfer out as instructed by the syndicate, thereby creating the illusion of "legal transactions" and cutting the money trail, heavily exploiting the victims.
The task force, in collaboration with the Fifth Squad of the Kaohsiung City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division and the Haishan Precinct of the New Taipei City Police Department, conducted long-term evidence gathering. Between August last year and February this year, they launched multiple coordinated search operations in Kaohsiung City, New Taipei City, and Taoyuan City. They successfully arrested a total of 21 people, including the mastermind Guo, syndicate brokers, and money laundering members. Preliminary estimates put the illegal profits at over NT$40.18 million.
In addition to the arrests, police seized one real estate property, NT$1.92 million in cash, five passenger cars, eight credit card machines, two desktop computers, seven phones used for crimes, as well as customer and company data, credit card receipts, and passbooks. The entire case has been forwarded to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office for investigation under charges of aggravated fraud under the Criminal Code, the Money Laundering Control Act, and the Organized Crime Prevention Act. (Editor: Chen Ren-hua) 1150410
Police investigations revealed that Guo and others used this physical store as a cover, acting as the scam syndicate's "exclusive cashing hub." When victims engaged in fake credit card purchases, Guo extracted high transaction fees. After victims obtained the remaining cash, they handed it over to money mules or bought cryptocurrency to transfer out as instructed by the syndicate, thereby creating the illusion of "legal transactions" and cutting the money trail, heavily exploiting the victims.
The task force, in collaboration with the Fifth Squad of the Kaohsiung City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division and the Haishan Precinct of the New Taipei City Police Department, conducted long-term evidence gathering. Between August last year and February this year, they launched multiple coordinated search operations in Kaohsiung City, New Taipei City, and Taoyuan City. They successfully arrested a total of 21 people, including the mastermind Guo, syndicate brokers, and money laundering members. Preliminary estimates put the illegal profits at over NT$40.18 million.
In addition to the arrests, police seized one real estate property, NT$1.92 million in cash, five passenger cars, eight credit card machines, two desktop computers, seven phones used for crimes, as well as customer and company data, credit card receipts, and passbooks. The entire case has been forwarded to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office for investigation under charges of aggravated fraud under the Criminal Code, the Money Laundering Control Act, and the Organized Crime Prevention Act. (Editor: Chen Ren-hua) 1150410