Taiwan's ADI Warns of Fake E-commerce Scams on Threads, Offers 4 Prevention Tips

(CNA reporter Chao Min-ya, Taipei, 21st) Recently, a person fell into a trap on the social media platform Threads after seeing a post promoting self-operated agricultural products. When preparing to place an order, a fraud group requested a private bank transfer, citing a system anomaly. The Ministry of Digital Affairs' Administration for Digital Industries (ADI) reminds the public to be vigilant and follow four major anti-fraud points, including not clicking on links from unknown sources on social media and refusing unusual top-ups and private money flows, to avoid being deceived. The ADI shared a scam case where a person saw a post on Threads promoting self-operated agricultural products. With the intention of supporting small farmers, they clicked the link, registered as a member as instructed, and when preparing to check out, a system customer service message popped up, claiming that due to website system traffic limits, they could place an order first through a private bank transfer. The person thought the amount was not high and mistakenly believed that a promotional referral website offered protection, so they made the transfer as instructed. Unexpectedly, the fraud group subsequently requested multiple transfers for reasons such as "system errors requiring additional payment." After the person had transferred over NT$50,000, they realized the one-page website and customer service were all a scam and immediately reported it to the police to stop further losses. The ADI pointed out that fraud groups have gradually shifted to emerging social media platforms like Threads, often impersonating independent creators or ordinary people to post about supporting a friend's startup or sharing their own webpage, attaching a link to a one-page advertisement website to entice users to click. The ADI stated that when people select a product on a one-page platform and prepare to check out, the webpage often displays abnormal notifications such as "payment flow restrictions" or "website system upgrade," asking the buyer to switch to a private bank transfer. Once payment is made, the fraud group will continue to request transfers under various pretexts. The ADI reminds the public that it is now difficult to distinguish between fake online shopping platforms and one-page ads, and people must remember the four major anti-fraud points: First, check the URL and pay attention to OTP verification codes. The ADI pointed out that many one-page ad website URLs differ from the official website by only one letter. People should not click on links from unknown sources on social media and should double-check the authenticity and security of the URL before entering credit card numbers or OTPs. Second, the ADI stated, is to refuse unusual top-ups and private money flows. If an e-commerce platform refuses to use credit cards or official secure payment channels and requests a private bank transfer or a third-party money flow, it is highly likely a scam, and the transaction should be stopped immediately. Third, check the unified business number and physical address. Legitimate e-commerce businesses will disclose their contact channels. If the company name, unified business number, physical address, etc., on the one-page ad website are vague or missing, the webpage should be closed immediately. The ADI emphasized that the fourth is