In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in new forms of online and telephone fraud. To crack down on these offenses and protect society, the Executive Yuan formulated a set of next-generation anti-fraud strategy guidelines in July 2022, and issued an upgraded version 1.5 of the guidelines in May 2023. Version 1.5 focuses on the four areas of identifying, preventing, intercepting and punishing fraud, to accomplish the three goals of reducing exposure, reducing deception and reducing harm caused by fraud.
The government has recently amended five laws to fight fraud—the Criminal Code of the Republic of China, Human Trafficking Prevention Act, Personal Data Protection Act, Money Laundering Control Act, and Securities Investment Trust and Consulting Act. On May 9, 2024 the Executive Yuan furthermore approved a draft bill on fraud crime harm prevention (Update: passed by the Legislature on July 12), as well as a complementary draft bill on the use and oversight of science and technology in investigations (Update: passed by the Legislature as amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure on July 16), and complementary draft amendments to the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (Update: passed by the Legislature on July 12) and Money Laundering Control Act (Update: passed by the Legislature on July 16). This new raft of legislation aims to tackle the ever-evolving forms and methods of criminal fraud, and ensure greater security for people's property and assets.
Main points
■ Identifying fraud (via educational campaigns): Promote awareness campaigns across all fields and industries, enlisting cooperation between central and local governments, and between public and private sectors. Introduce anti-fraud concepts into legal education.
■ Preventing fraud (via telecommunications networks): Promote digital trust technologies, such as the establishment of the "111" SMS short code used exclusively for official government messages. Encourage e-commerce companies to strengthen data security and adopt technology that substitutes a recipient's phone number on delivery orders with a proxy number, thus protecting personal data and trust in online shopping environments. Work with telecom companies to block calls from overseas fraudsters who spoof Taiwanese phone numbers, and to raise public vigilance by playing audio warnings when calls from international numbers are received.
■ Intercepting fraud (via money flows): Interrupt illegal transactions by encouraging financial institutions to ask confirmation questions when customers conduct large in-person transactions; strengthening anti-fraud measures in applications for designated accounts for wire transfers; introducing gradual regulation of virtual asset trading platform operators; blocking investment-related advertisement scams from online platforms; instituting internal control mechanisms within online game companies and locking in-game credit purchases when suspicious activity is detected; requiring third-party payment providers to establish review mechanisms for their clients; and promoting awareness campaigns across financial institutions nationwide.
■ Punishing fraud (via law enforcement): Establish the Fraud and Cybersecurity Center with a focus on cracking down on violent gangs, punishing fraudulent groups and cutting off illegal money flows. Improve the confiscation of criminal proceeds, restitution of stolen assets, and assistance for fraud victims. Strengthen mechanisms to transfer, freeze and seize domestic and international virtual currencies.