The National Immigration Agency said today that as the number of migrant workers and foreign students in Taiwan continues to grow each year, some individuals have been lured by fraud groups to engage in illegal activities. The agency has completed system connections for foreign resident data to provide relevant authorities with enhanced inspection and regulatory support to jointly combat fraud.

The agency stated in a press release that influenced by global trends, the population of migrant workers and foreign students in Taiwan has increased annually. Some individuals have been induced by fraud groups to act as cash couriers or sell telecom numbers and bank accounts. The agency has been actively working with the Ministry of Labor and other government bodies to combat these activities.

To implement interagency cooperation, the agency said it has been working with the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Education to strengthen anti fraud awareness and promote knowledge of penalties through various channels targeting migrant workers and foreign students.

The agency also completed system integration that allows migrant worker data to be provided in real time to the National Communications Commission and the Financial Supervisory Commission through system connectivity and cloud based access. This enhances monitoring and inspection of high risk telecom numbers and bank accounts.

The agency noted that Taiwan has officially entered a super aged society. Due to changes in population structure and labor shortages, the need for migrant workers continues to rise. According to Ministry of Labor data, the number of migrant workers in Taiwan reached 858939 as of the end of September.

According to National Police Agency statistics, in the past three years, more than 70 percent of cases involving foreign residents selling bank accounts to fraud groups involved legally employed migrant workers, while absconded workers and foreign students accounted for less than 20 percent.

The agency said that as of the end of October, it had provided more than 10.55 million data entries to relevant authorities and will continue cooperating to fight fraud and protect public property.