Date: 2023-11-09

Source: Department of Information Services, Executive Yuan

 At the Cabinet's weekly meeting Thursday, Premier Chen Chien-jen received reports from the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) and the National Communications Commission (NCC) regarding fraud prevention measures. The premier directed relevant ministries and agencies to strengthen cooperation with local governments and continue dedicating themselves to the goal of fighting, and ultimately preventing, all fraud. 

Based on the core concept of digital trust technologies, MODA has established a 111 government SMS platform and is collaborating with e-commerce businesses to introduce phone number masking technology for delivery services, the premier said. Beginning October this year, government agencies have started sending SMS messages through the 111 short code, which is exclusively for government use, enabling people to identify messages from an official source and avoid falling victim to fraudsters masquerading as government agencies. Beginning June this year, delivery companies have started adopting technology that substitutes a recipient's telephone number on delivery orders with a proxy number, thereby lowering the chances of personal data being stolen. 

Premier Chen added that international telephone fraud continues to be a frequent tactic employed by criminal groups and said that the NCC is working with telecom companies to block calls from overseas fraudsters using masking techniques to impersonate a Taiwanese telephone number. Telecom companies are further assisting by playing audio warnings when calls from international numbers are received, to reduce the likelihood of deception and increase vigilance among the public.