Reported 8 months ago
Fraudulent groups are pretending to be public agencies to scam people into paying money or providing personal information. Recently, individuals have received text messages purportedly from 'Taiwan Water Company' urging them to pay their water bills, while others have received similar messages about electricity bills from 'Taiwan Power Company.' People followed the links in the texts to unknown websites, entered credit card details as instructed, and ended up being defrauded of 60,000 NT dollars. The police remind the public that both Taiwan Water and Taiwan Power have been sending official messages using the '111' shortcode since January, and any suspicious texts (from unfamiliar numbers or with international codes like +63) should be treated with caution. If in doubt, individuals should call the customer service numbers listed on their bills or verify with the companies. If there are suspicions of fraud, the anti-fraud hotline '165' can be contacted, or people can visit the Ministry of the Interior's website to block scam texts.
Source: YAHOO