The Taichung City Police recently reported that they have received 28 reports of scams involving one-page advertisements that pretend to be from McDonald's, KFC, and other fast-food chains and make the false claim that a set meal with an original cost of nearly NT$300 is now only NT$49 for a short period of time. Some consumers swiped their cards after falling for the false pitch. They later discovered they had been duped when they saw on the bill that a total of more than NT$5,000 had been taken.
Be aware of one-page ads! Frauds now pretending to be fast-food chains to defraud people.Photo provided by the police
According to Taichung City Police, the user entered the credit card information as directed on the page after being thrilled to find such a low price. As soon as he verified that the card had been swiped for NT$49, he received a text message from the bank informing them that the payment had been successful but that Kuwaiti Dinar had been used instead of the New Taiwan Dollar. When converted to New Taiwan dollars, the price is equivalent to more than NT$5,000. The person promptly applied to his credit card company to suspend payments after realizing he had been duped, in addition to calling the police.
Be aware of one-page ads! Frauds now pretending to be fast-food chains to defraud people.Photo provided by the police
At the end of August of this year, the Taichung City Police Department said that a total of 28 cases of fast-food chain fraud were recorded, resulting in losses of up to NT$430,000 yuan for the victims. The police also emphasized the need for thorough verification and caution if you find the prices of goods that are significantly lower than the going rate. You can phone 110 or 165 to verify a one-page scam if you come across one.