Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) announced on Tuesday the official launch of a government short code SMS platform developed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) to showcase the government’s determination to combat scams involving messages pretending to be sent by government agencies.
At the press conference held by MODA, Tsai said the text message platform is being launched to combat scam text messages purporting to be sent by government agencies through cooperation between government agencies and major telecommunication operators.
Tsai said with the launch of the SMS platform, all government ministries and agencies will be able to send text messages with a specific and dedicated government short code “111.” This will help members of the public recognize the source of messages, while ensuring they can identify scam messages, she said.
Tsai also expressed her gratitude toward the five major telecom operators, who worked with the government to combat anti-fraud operations. From January to September this year, Tsai said, they have filtered out a total of 6.89 million scam text messages and blocked over 16.32 million phone calls from foreign scammers.
Combating fraud is like preventing disease, which requires the cooperation from all sides, Tsai said.
Taiwan has also passed amendments to five laws that will impose heavier penalties for fraud, as well as setting up an Anti-Fraud Office, Tsai added, noting the government will work harder to counter such offenses.
Echoing Tsai’s statement, Minister of Digital Affairs Audrey Tang (唐鳳) said the complete operation of the text platform service will begin in January, with mechanisms introduced to protect personal information, as well as guaranteeing that messages are indeed sent by government ministries and agencies.
According to Tang, since the platform was set up at the end of September, some people have already received SMS messages with short code “111.”
Also at the event, Minister without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said scams have used phone calls, the Internet and bank accounts, which are all closely related to people’s daily lives.
(By Su Ssu-yun and Evelyn Yang)
Enditem/AW

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