Eight Changhua Shops Fell Victim to Fake Cash Scam 年輕人持千元假鈔四處消費 彰化8商家受害

Be aware of this news as the lunar new year holiday is approaching! Shops and vendors in Changhua reported being victims of receiving fake cash from customers. Local police investigated and caught nine suspects. There are also similar cases in Beigang of Yunlin.

Police placed several NT$1,000 bills with the same serial number on the table. A group of young adults in the Changhua area was using these fake NT$1,000 bills to buy goods at night markets, betel nut stands, and convenience stores in exchange for real cash. Police arrested nine of them.

Chang An-chin, Deputy Commander, Changhua County Police Department: “This group of young adults bought counterfeit cash online at a price of NT$5 for each bill. They then successfully fooled the vendors by many of them paying at the cashier one after the other so that the cashier got too busy taking the money and giving out real money as change, without having the moment to really look at the bills. They made around NT$90,000 in profit. We are still tracing.”

Changhua police reported eight local shops falling victim to fake cash scams. Nine perpetrators got arrested, amongst them six were underage, with all of them charged with fraud and circulation of counterfeit money. Shops in Beigang, Yunlin also reported receiving fake NT$100 bills.

Shop in Beigang, Yunlin: “We read warnings online regarding people using counterfeit money to make purchases recently. (How do you watch out for it?) We feel the bill with our fingers. ”

Street Vendor in Beigang, Yunlin: “The NT$100 bill feels all the same, but if someone gives us a NT$1,000 bill, I would pay more close attention to it.”

Local Beignang vendors said that they usually pay less attention to NT$100 bills since they are smaller in value, but some realized the scam and reported it to the local police. Besides getting a written statement from the victims, police also checked surveillance cameras in the area to trace the source of counterfeit money appearance in Beigang. 

桌面上擺滿一張張千元玩具假鈔，每一張編號都一模一樣，日前有一群年輕人在彰化地區，拿著這些千元假鈔到夜市、檳榔攤與超商購買東西、玩遊戲來換取真鈔牟利，現在都被警方逮捕。

彰化縣刑大副隊長張安進指出：「那個集團的成員是在網路上，以每張新台幣5元的代價來購得玩具鈔票。利用同時多人消費及找錢，使攤商無法及時來驗鈔的手法，不法獲利約新台幣9萬元，本局將持續追查。」

彰化警方表示，經追查這次有8處商家被詐騙受害，逮捕集團成員共9人，其中有6名未成年，全案依刑法詐欺罪、行使偽造貨幣等罪嫌送辦。另外在雲林縣北港地區，近期也傳出有店家收到百元假鈔。

雲林北港店家（非報案店家）說道：「我們有在網路上看到人家說，有假鈔（百元）要注意喔。（你要怎麼防範？）我們就都用手摸就知道。」

雲林北港攤商提及：「百元鈔的感覺紙都一樣 （不會注意），你如果說拿到千元鈔，就多注意一下。」

當地有攤商表示，百元鈔面額較小，收錢時的確不會特別去注意。而雲林北港警方就說，目前已經接獲報案，並請受害人到派出所作筆錄，將以監視器追查出使用者，全力查緝假鈔源頭。