When carrying out night watch duty at 19:00 on September 11, 2013, police officers of First Precinct of Taichung City Government Police Department saw two men acting suspiciously and looking around nervously at the intersections of Central District’s Zhonghwa Road and Taiwan Boulevard. Following these two men to No. 126, Section 1 of Zhonghwa Road, Central District (Shin Kong Commercial Bank Zhonghwa Branch), police officers found these two men took out many cards from their bags and inserted them into the ATM to withdraw large amounts of cash. Police officers immediately stepped forward to interrogate and found the set men were hired by a cross-strait fraud ring to withdraw cash there.

These two men were taken back to the police station for further investigation, through which the modus operandi of the criminal gang was found to be very novel. The gangsters would steal bank information from mainland Chinese tourists who were withdrawing cash by debit cards. All the relevant information, including hotel room card and restaurant membership card, would be then copied to the “fake cards”, which were then used to withdraw cash from ATMs in Taiwan.

The method is so new that even experienced criminal investigators have never seen it before! The two suspects were then brought back to the scene to demonstrate how the “fake cards” were operated. As they were judged to commit crime in fraud, money laundering and forgery, the whole case was transferred to Taichung District Prosecutors Office for further investigation. Confiscated as evidence were 56 fake Union Pay cards, 6 mobile phones, and NT$420,700 in cash.

First Precinct of Taichung City Government Police Department said it would continue strengthening investigation of fraud cases. It also called on our citizens to watch out for those suspicious calls asking for money remittances, cancellation of fixed deposits, or cash payment in person. Police officers remind people to report any fraud case by calling 110 or 165 and remember the three-step fraud prevention tips: The first step is “listening” (understanding what people on the other end are talking about); the second step is “hanging up the phone”; and the third step is “inquiring” (calling 110 or 165 to report or check the case).