Fraudsters Impersonating Gov't Officials on LINE 冒用盧秀燕.林明溱頭像詐騙 警籲別上當

Fraudsters are now stealing people's identities and opening fake LINE accounts to impersonate people, even political officials. 

The borough chief of Taichung City's Guangfu Borough received this message from Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen sending her regards, informing him that this was her private LINE account, and asking how his work was going on Sept. 28. He was surprised to receive it, and clicked to enlarge the photo to check if it really was the mayor. It was clear that the photo was cropped, and he realized that something was up.

Chang Fu-hsing, Chief, Guangu Borough, Central District, Taichung City: “I looked at the photo, and it was pretty poorly done. There was still a frame around it and I intuited that it was a fraud ring. I responded to her with a question mark, and she asked me how my work was going. I thought there was no need to reply, because if the mayor has a LINE chat with every single borough chief, then she would have her hands full with us and have no time left for municipal administration.”

Recently, the identities of 21 district chiefs were misappropriated and used to open LINE accounts. These accounts then messaged borough chiefs to ask them to join groups with the ultimate aim of defrauding money. The mayor has become the latest victim. Lu said she has already reported this to the police and urged city residents not to be deceived.

Lu Shiow-yen, Mayor, Taichung City: “Online fraud is rampant, and we urge city residents and friends to be highly vigilant and not be deceived. We have already informed the police and they are investigating.”

Hsieh Chih-yuan, Unit Chief, Criminal Investigation Corps, Taichung City PD: “The department has already contacted the Criminal Investigation Bureau, and a task force established by the Criminal Investigation Corps' technology investigation unit and the Anti-fraud Command Center is already investigating similar impersonation cases involving other senior government officials to determine the source.”

Nantou County Magistrate Lin Ming-chen has found himself in the same situation. The police in Taichung and Nantou are investigating. The public is reminded that people can use LINE's video function to call and verify identities. They can also call 165 or 110 if they need assistance.

台中市長盧秀燕私訊問好，表明是私人LINE的帳號，還親切關心最近工作狀況，台中市中區光復里里長28日傍晚收到這則訊息感到相當驚訝，冷靜點開頭像照片的確是盧秀燕，但很明顯是截圖來的，驚覺詐騙集團如此猖獗。

台中市中區光復里里長張富星回應：「我看大頭貼蠻粗糙的，旁邊還有邊框，直覺就覺得是詐騙集團。我就回她一個問號，她還跟我問最近工作怎麼樣？我也沒理她了。市長跟每個里長都有LINE的話，基本上市政應該不用做了，光忙我們這些里長的事情就飽了。」

台中近日才發生21個區長被冒用照片開設LINE帳號，私訊邀請里長加群組，意圖借款詐騙的事情，沒想到現在連市長都中招。盧秀燕表示已經報警追查，呼籲市民小心不要上當。

台中市長盧秀燕提醒：「網路詐騙多，我們呼籲市民朋友一定要提高警覺，小心上當。當然我們已經報警了，正在追查當中。」

台中市刑大經濟組組長謝志遠指出：「本局已和刑事警察局聯繫，同時由刑大的科技偵查隊打詐中心成立專案小組積極偵辦中，針對類似假冒機關首長政府官員等案件逐一清查溯源。」

另外包括南投縣長林明溱也出現LINE冒用詐騙的狀況，目前台中和南投警方都積極偵辦中。台中市刑大更呼籲民眾遇到人頭帳號詐騙，可打開通訊軟體的視訊功能，並且打電話當面溝通查證，或撥打165與110請求協助。