Telecom Card Dealer Arrested for Selling SIMs to Fraud Ring Impersonating Police in 'Cash Handout' Scam

Central News Agency, Kaohsiung, April 21 (Reporter: Zhang Yichen). A telecom card merchant surnamed Yang is suspected of purchasing mobile phone numbers from multiple foreign migrant workers to supply a fraud syndicate. The syndicate used these numbers to impersonate prosecutors and police, calling victims and claiming that their 10,000 TWD government cash handout was about to be stolen. By doing so, they obtained victims' ATM cards and withdrew more than 680,000 TWD. Yang was detained by the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office after questioning.

The Technology Crime Investigation Team of the Kaohsiung City Police Department explained that between November and December last year, they received successive reports from the public stating that a fraud syndicate was impersonating postal workers. The group gained victims' trust by citing the 'improper claim of 10,000 TWD cash handouts' and then used fake police identities to investigate the victims' assets under the guise of criminal investigations. They then collected cash through face-to-face meetings with 'money mules' under the pretext of 'asset supervision.'

Police stated that from January 21 to April 15, the task force arrested eight individuals, including the 30-year-old telecom card merchant Yang, in Shilin District (Taipei), Shulin District (New Taipei), Longtan District (Taoyuan), Fengyuan District (Taichung), and Sanmin District (Kaohsiung).

Investigation revealed that Yang allegedly purchased SIM cards from foreign migrant workers, students, and Taiwanese citizens for amounts ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 TWD, and then provided them to the fraud syndicate as criminal tools. Police will continue to trace the source of the operation.

The Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office issued a press release today stating that after obtaining the phone numbers, the syndicate members called a victim on December 1 last year, obtained the victim's bank ATM card, and withdrew a total of 685,000 TWD. Following the arrest of Yang and others, the prosecutor deemed Yang's crimes serious and suspected collusion, thus requesting his detention and isolation, which was approved by the court.

Guo Jingdong, Chief Prosecutor of the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office, pointed out that since the application period for 'cash handouts' has not yet ended, fraud syndicates are very likely to continue using this topic to impersonate government agencies or postal services. If citizens encounter suspicious situations, they should immediately call the 165 Anti-Fraud Hotline or seek verification from nearby police stations.

In addition, Guo appealed to foreign nationals in Taiwan to be vigilant. Arbitrarily handing over control of mobile phone numbers or financial accounts to others or selling them for profit could constitute crimes such as aiding fraud. The prosecution will continue to expand the crackdown on telecom fraud to cut off the supply chain of criminal groups and safeguard public property safety.