At 12:10 on December 29, 2013, a 67-year-old woman surnamed Kuo rushed into Hezuo Police Station, 3rd Precinct, Taichung City Government Police Department. She told the policemen that she received a phone call from a policeman telling her that her bank account was put under surveillance. Sergeant Wu-○-Yuan (吳○原) and police officer Kao-○-Hsing (高○興) calmed her down and asked her to take a break before they looked into her case.
It was found that the old woman received a summons from Taipei Court and a guy called to warn her that her bank account was under surveillance; the guy even said he would call again the next day and threatened her not to leak anything out to anyone. As Ms. Kuo lives alone and didn’t want to make her children worried, she felt very panic and thus rushed to Hezuo Police Station near her home. Policemen Wu and Kao explained to her that her case was definitely a scam and showed her the anti-fraud advocacy brochure. After listening to the explanation, Ms. Kuo showed a sigh of relief and thanked the policemen, saying that the police station was her home away from home.
Lee-○-Chen (李○成), Chief of Hezuo Police Station, said, “There are many forms of fraud cases. Phone scams are the most common. A fake prosecutor or policeman may call you up to ‘intimidate’ you. If he mentions such key words as ‘suspects’, ‘judicial investigation’, ‘an investigation shall not be public’, or ‘your account is put under surveillance’, please ignore him and hang up the phone immediately. In addition, if your own elder rushes home to fetch passbooks to withdraw cash, it may be a sign of a fraud case. Please watch out for such small traces to prevent your family from being cheated. If you have any questions about fraud cases, please call 165 Anti-Fraud Hotline.”