Sweepstake Scams

Most Taiwanese have experienced phone calls from extortionists trying to defraud them of large sums of money.As the fraud groups’tactics become more and more sophisticated, the public is often caught off guard.In order to raise awareness of these scams,Public Television Service cooperated with the National Police Agency in reproducing a series of real cases adapted from calls received through the Anti-Fraud Squad Hotline.Through comedic exaggeration, the audience learns how fraud groups operate. This episode, “Sweepstake Scams,” depicts two real-life cases. In the first case,Mr. Chang receives a message from a travel agency notifying him that he’s won NT$500,000.The catch? He must pay the Gift Tax in advance.What should he do? In the second case, Miss Mei-Chu also won a prize. In order to claim it, she must use the service of “wire transfer by phone.” She ended up owing NT$2 million to an underground bank.What happened exactly?