Technology-based Financial Frauds in Taiwan: Issues and Approaches

Financial fraud or deception for personal gain had become one of the major crimes in society. The situation worsened by the advance and widely application of information technology (IT). In recent years, the number of financial frauds in Taiwan increased dramatically, from 2,817 in 1997 to 43,342 in 2005, which means a 15 fold increase in 8 years. Besides the fact that the transcendence and the anonymity of network allow fraudsters to acquire their victims effectively and to avoid the risk of apprehension, the IT-enabled platform also makes it much more efficient and effective for fraudsters to exchange information with their victims and to transfer financial data. Major types of financial frauds in Taiwan include: computer fraud, credit card fraud, auction fraud, e-commerce fraud, and telemarketing fraud. Modus operandi of financial frauds are depicted and current remedies are summarized. A framework for developing countermeasures is also proposed for future research.