Freedom from Fear--Declaring War on Extortion Rings

Walking along the street, people are afraid of drive-by robberies. They are concerned about possible burglary of their homes. The phone rings, and they worry that might they fall victim to some scam.

New forms of crime are constantly emerging. Various swindlers rack their brains, brandishing new tricks, extorting and swindling at every opportunity. In the city or the country, almost anyone, rich or poor, is a potential target of indiscriminate and insatiable criminals.

The day after the new interior minister, Su Jia-chyuarn, announced his war on fraud rings, his wife Hung Heng-chu-a police academy graduate who once served as a squad leader-was robbed. Besides demonstrating that the perpetrator did not realize who he was meddling with, this audacious daylight attack in the middle of the city brought home the fact that crimes such as drive-by robberies, the stealing of cars in order to extract a ransom from their owners, and faked kidnappings are increasingly widespread.

Besides street robberies, thefts of automobiles in order to extort money from their owners is one category of crime that has long plagued the public and is still commonplace. Victims have included the wife of former interior minister Yu Cheng-hsien, and legislator Cheng Kuei-lien. Not long ago an 11-member auto theft ring was broken up in Taichung. In the six months prior to being apprehended, the gang stole more than 100 cars, first obtaining information on a car's owner and then demanding money for the car's return. If no such information could be found, they would sell the stolen car for a low price to auto repair shops where it would be stripped for parts.

With the rise of steel prices on the international market, hundreds of tons of scrap metal from construction sites, sewer grates along street curbs, fire hydrants, and even school gates, cemetery gates, and the safety barriers at water pumping stations are being stolen. These almost unimaginable cases of theft not only result in property losses, but threaten the safety of residents.

Recently, the crimes that have proven the most difficult for the citizenry to guard against are the fake kidnappings used to extort ransoms. According to Criminal Investigation Bureau statistics, from January to March of this year, 9,952 such cases were reported, and the incidence is on the rise. A shocking NT$606,890,000 has been defrauded from unsuspecting victims in this way.

The latest tactic is for the criminal to use the time a child is at school to phone his or her parent and demand a ransom. In Taichung, 50 or 60 parents of students at one junior high school received such calls. The perpetrator played the sound of a sobbing child during the call to press the frantic parent to quickly pay the ransom.

Even when parents do not suffer financial losses by paying the ransom demanded by the "kidnapper," the terror of the experience is difficult to dispel. Many members of the public receive threatening phone calls informing them they have offended a gangster, and if not careful will get their limbs broken. The caller will claim to have the victim's photograph and address, and may even have a pizza delivered to the victim's home, to strike fear into them. Some victims are forced to keep a nervous watch whenever they leave their homes, while others even opt to move to a new home.

New approaches for committing fraud are constantly devised, and are becoming increasingly vicious. It's little wonder that the new interior minister has directed the police to make extortion the most important target of their law enforcement efforts, going all out to root out this type of crime. The National Police Administration's new director-general, Shieh Ing-dan, has also demanded that city and county police administrations beef up their efforts, with severe penalties in store if they refuse to handle a case.

Citizens fight back

If one studies these extortion rings, one discovers that in most cases they first obtain personal information on individuals to gain credibility with their victims. In dealing with leaks of personal information, law enforcement agencies should strengthen their checks for suspicious phone calls and leaks by people working in the financial services industry.

According to statistics from the National Police Administration, around 12% of criminal cases involving the newer types of fraud are solved, a proportion far lower than the 28% rate for fraud cases overall. This poor record is due to the fact that the criminals responsible for these crimes exploit the use of stolen cell phones or pre-paid call cards, or repeatedly call-forward to a series of numbers to avoid being tracked down. They may even transfer a call to a number in China, foiling any attempt to zero in on them.

In order to put an end to these types of fraud cases, the Executive Yuan is spearheading joint efforts by investigative agencies. The Criminal Investigation Bureau will create a database of fraudulent phone numbers and bank accounts, using computer networks to link to the bank accounts under surveillance throughout the country. This will allow the authorities not only to monitor the criminal activities of extortion rings, but also to immediately freeze fund transfers made by victims, thereby thwarting the criminals. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies will establish a single contact window for handling cases reported by the public. Also under consideration are rewards for persons who make phone calls on behalf of extortion rings, attempting to turn them into informants who can lead authorities to the mastermind behind the crimes.

Beginning on July 1, banking associations will only allow new ATM cards to be used for cash withdrawals and balance inquiries. Unless an individual specifically requests it, these cards cannot be used for electronic fund transfers, reducing the risk of their owners falling prey to scams involving fund transfers.

Freedom from fear is a citizen's basic right. Certainly people deserve better than this sort of terrorized existence ruled by caution. When fraud rings escape justice, victimizing law-abiding citizens, the public should respond by actively aiding law enforcement and investigative agencies in battling against these crimes and restore lives without fear.