Old Triple Stimulus Vouchers Passed Off As New Quintuple Vouchers 過期三倍券假冒五倍券消費 警朝詐欺偵辦

An eatery in Miaoli said it got paid with expired Triple Stimulus Vouchers and warned businesses to check carefully as they resemble the newly distributed Quintuple Stimulus Vouchers. Lawyers say paying with expired vouchers may constitute fraud and offenders may be prosecuted with criminal charges. 

The eatery was filled with customers. One lady wanted to pay with the quintuple stimulus voucher, and the cashier girl at the counter doubled check with her father before taking the voucher.

“(See how much it is in total and remember to give out change.) No, I don't need change. You can keep it.”

The cashier girl took the voucher without thinking too much and little did she know that she was fooled by the customer and had taken in an expired triple stimulus voucher instead. This incident happened around 3pm on the 11th. One lady ordered NT$375 worth of food and she paid with two triple stimulus vouchers worth NT$200 each. The owner of the eatery said although it wasn't a big sum, it was still a scam and it didn't feel good to be tricked.

Mr. Chiang, Eatery owner："I haven't retrieved my (quintuple) stimulus vouchers yet so my kid doesn't know what they look like exactly. That's why she made the mistake."

Lo Wen-sheng, Shop owner："They have almost the same design and same denominations, so remember to check thoroughly."

Many owners of restaurants and eateries say that the triple and quintuple stimulus vouchers look almost the same. Business owners are too busy sometimes and may fail to check properly. The triple stimulus vouchers feature the shape of Taiwan in its center while the new quintuple stimulus vouchers feature the Taiwan blue magpie with its wings extended. The triple vouchers have Dec. 31, 2020, as the expiration date on the left while quintuple vouchers have April 30, 2022, as the expiration date on the right.

Chang Chung, Deputy Chief of Jhunan Precinct, Police Bureau, Miaoli County："The eatery has not reported to the police so far, but we have called them already after hearing the news. We will start an investigation to trace the owner of the expired vouchers."

Police are currently on the lookout for the lady caught on the surveillance camera. Lawyers say that paying with expired vouchers may constitute fraud, a criminal offense that is automatically prosecutable and will therefore be investigated without the need for a complaint or report.
 

小吃店裡擠滿點餐顧客，一名婦人拿振興券付款，幫忙在櫃檯收錢的老闆女兒回頭詢問確認，最後將振興券收下。

[ （你就看多少錢？然後要找錢？) 不用，我不用找零，這樣就可以了！」

因為振興五倍券可以使用，店家收下紙本券，但晚間結帳卻發現，收的是早已不能使用的三倍券。事情發生在11號下午三點多，這名婦人點了375元的餐點，從皮包拿出過期的兩張200元面額的三倍券結帳，店家說金額雖然不大，卻感覺被欺騙。

誤收過期三倍券店家 江先生表示：「我本身自己，還沒有去領(五倍)券，所以小朋友也不知道，它現在五倍券到底長什麼樣子？所以才會誤收。」

其他店家 羅文勝表示：「因為這樣看起來面額是一樣的，大家要小心注意。」

其他店家也說，三倍券和五倍券，乍看之下實在好像，忙碌時可能很難注意。實際比較看看，三倍券中間圖樣是台澎金馬，五倍券是台灣藍鵲，三倍券的注意字樣是靠右，五倍券則靠左，至於使用期限，三倍券到去年的12月31號，五倍券則是到明年4月30號。

竹南分局副分局長 張中表示：「目前店家尚未報案，本分局知悉本案後，已主動聯繫店家，並將查明使用人身分，依法偵辦。」

警方目前根據監視器追查婦人下落，將主動偵辦。律師表示，這樣的行為也已經涉及刑法詐欺罪嫌，就算店家不提告，也可依法提起公訴。