tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post6888346506136223794..comments2023-10-22T18:25:39.688+08:00Comments on The View from Taiwan: Thieves and ScamsMichael Turtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-17155123813704666652007-05-27T22:04:00.000+08:002007-05-27T22:04:00.000+08:00LOL. Check out the June issue (already out - p.s. ...LOL. Check out the June issue (already out - p.s. by the way, I am totally addicted to the magazine, which I buy every month here) of Atlantic Monthly about scamming the scammmers, "How To Trick An Online Scammer Into Carving a Computer Out of Wood and Other Ingenious Acts of Cyber-Vengeance." I haven't laughed so hard in this three-and-a-half decades of my life. But as Michael says, some of the things about such matters are not so funny. I might be blogging about the above article this week, if not later tonight.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15907060405795620941noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-11975621073151032072007-05-27T12:41:00.000+08:002007-05-27T12:41:00.000+08:00Although a safe place to live, Taiwan has a signif...Although a safe place to live, Taiwan has a significant criminal class. <BR/><BR/>In the time that I have lived here, I've had my apartment(s) broken into 3 times and my office once. Last years, my girlfriend's apartment was broken into and her brand new laptop was stolen. Worst, is that it took here a year to pay off afterwards since she just bought it on her credit card. <BR/><BR/>To top it off, about 3 months ago, I gave her a brand new laptop, and wouldn't you know, her office was broken into a few weeks ago and it was stolen. <BR/><BR/>Taiwan is full of thieves. (both ends of the financial spectrum)<BR/><BR/>Her friend's father was also just taken by a telephone scammer and lost over $600K. It would have been more, but a bank clerk saved the day. (I heard this particular scam originated with phone calls from China)<BR/><BR/>Anyone that moves here probably wonders why there are prison like cages over ever single window of every single building here, even 12+ floors up. It's really sicking this element prevails so much and the laws are so lax that people get away with it over and over again.<BR/><BR/>I recommend sending thieves be sent to Lanyu and work in the nuke dump. This way, their pathetic lives will end quicker and they will do something to benefit society for once. This is one part of Taiwan life that absolutely sucks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-47268812514737487582007-05-26T22:36:00.000+08:002007-05-26T22:36:00.000+08:00LOL. That's pretty funny. But then it's not, reall...LOL. That's pretty funny. But then it's not, really.<BR/><BR/>MichaelMichael Turtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17974403961870976346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10698887.post-90124386031727711292007-05-26T22:14:00.000+08:002007-05-26T22:14:00.000+08:00LOL I almost fell for a scam when I first came bac...LOL I almost fell for a scam when I first came back from the states. I got a very realistic phonecall from "the Taipei district attorney's office" who left a message saying that I have missed two court meetings and that I have to call the police. I called the number and a "detective" answered telling me that I've been implicated in a money laundering scam and that they will need my id number etc etc. Like an idiot, I gave it to them. But that's not enough to cause mischief nowdays. "What's your bank account number." "Um. I don't have one." "What about postal office accounts." "nope." "Where do you keep your money?" "Um. I just came back from abroad." <BR/><BR/>I can imagine how exasperated he must have been to have found a mark dumb enough to give her details but no account! After I hung up I called my local police station to double-check. No sooner have the words "Taipei district attorney's office" left my lips than the police started saying "scam! it's a scam! Don't tell them anything!"Battlepandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04842340982653417060noreply@blogger.com