Internet Scams Exposed! Be Careful with Investment Markets and LINE Dating—Learn How to Reduce Your Risk of Being Defrauded

Recently, fake investment scams have been emerging endlessly on Facebook and the messaging app LINE. In one recent case, a woman surnamed Tsai saw a gold investment ad on Facebook. After the scam group added her as a friend through a “professional advisor” on LINE, they sent a fake URL asking her to register as a member and instructed her to transfer money to buy shopping credits on the website before she could invest in gold.

At first, Tsai’s account showed a profit of NT$80,000, but after making 19 transfers, she was shocked to find the account balance showing zero and realized she had been scammed.

Another retiree surnamed Tu also fell victim to a similar scam. He received a LINE friend request from a stock mentor who shared information about Taiwan stock investment targets and recommended adding an assistant on LINE, who provided trading information and messages guaranteeing profits from gold trading.

The scam group told the retiree Tu that they could trade through a gold trading app (MetaTrader 4), but he first had to transfer money to a designated account to top up the balance for trading.

However, when Tu wanted to withdraw his profits, the scam group told him he had to pay a commission and demanded another transfer to a different account.

Police pointed out that such fake investment scams are endless. The scam group lets victims invest a small principal and successfully withdraw funds, lulling victims into dropping their guard. Once victims increase their investment, the scammers use various excuses such as tax deductions, handling fees, and deposits to delay withdrawals, then suddenly shut down the website or app, leaving victims unable to recover their losses.

Police urge the public not to easily trust investment channels of unknown origin. All investments carry risk, and there is no such thing as guaranteed profit with no loss. People should adopt an investment rather than speculative mindset and choose investment targets they have studied in depth. In addition, scammers often

If people discover anything suspicious, they should report it to the police as soon as possible to help police investigate and apprehend suspects. Such scammers usually impersonate different roles to contact victims. People can refer to the weekly “Scam LINE ID” list published on the “165 Anti-Fraud” Facebook page to filter whether the other party’s LINE account has been reported as a scam account, reducing the risk of being defrauded.

In addition, professional organizations are also actively helping people prevent scams. For example, the new content website “Pico Time” built by Mountos Net Lab regularly uses scam investments and advertising marketing promotions appearing online as copywriting teaching materials for everyone to reference and learn from. In addition, everyone can subscribe to the Pico Time newsletter to stay informed of the latest scam methods at any time, improving their self-protection capabilities.