(FWA 2025/05/07) With a gradual increase in the foreign population in Taiwan, there has also been a rise in the number of foreigners falling victim to or being involved in fraud cases in recent years. The National Police Agency (NPA) has stated that measures have been taken to curb cases of fraud groups recruiting foreigners as money mules. The National Communications Commission (NCC), on the other hand, has rejected 97,000 new telecom number applications from non-nationals and suspended over 86,000 non-national prepaid cards after investigation to prevent the use of ghost accounts for fraudulent activities.
The NPA indicated that while there is a considerable number of cases involving migrant workers and foreigners acting as money mules, focused efforts to combat this issue have shown results in curbing these activities. The NPA also maintains close contact with the National Immigration Agency(NIA) and the Ministry of Labor and strengthens source investigations.
Regarding the involvement of ghost accounts held by foreign individuals in fraud cases, the NCC explained that since the implementation of the Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act and its related sub-laws, it has supervised telecommunications companies to connect with databases. As of March 31st this year, after querying the NIA’s database to verify user identities and entry information, major telecom operators have rejected approximately 97,000 new mobile number applications from non-nationals.
Addressing the illegal use of prepaid SIM cards after migrant workers leave the country, the NCC is conducting investigations into existing users. If individuals are found to have departed the country, overstayed their visas, or remained in Taiwan beyond their permitted duration and have not completed KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures within the stipulated timeframe (2 weeks), their prepaid SIM card numbers will be suspended.
As of March 31st this year, telecommunications companies have connected with the Immigration Agency’s database to investigate over 640,000 mobile numbers. Over 110,000 care messages have been sent regarding departure from the country and overstaying. For those who have not completed data verification, over 86,000 mobile numbers have been suspended. Furthermore, the investigation of users with more than two mobile numbers under one identification has been completed, and telecom operators have been urged to complete all investigations by the end of August this year.
