Fraudsters cash in on the Lunar New Year holiday by impersonating an acquaintance to ask that a victim transfer them money, with older people making up nearly 70 percent of victims, the Crime Prevention Affairs Division said. Citing a case, officials said that a Taipei man, surnamed Chang (張), received a telephone call from someone claiming to be the brother of his ex-wife who was in urgent need of cash. An hour later, the man called again to say that the money was not enough, prompting Cheng to ask his wife to wire another NT$50,000 to the account, the officials said. People could decide upon a secret code or term known only to themselves to verify the identity of a caller, the officials said. People should avoid using the same password for multiple accounts and not click on suspicious Web addresses, the officials said.

Source: Taipei Times February 02, 2020 15:56 UTC