TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Deputy Minister of the Interior Ma Shi-yuan (馬士元) revealed on Thursday (Jan. 16) that police discovered a fraud ring spending up to NT$250 million (around US$7.5 million) on scam ads in six months, highlighting that the ministry's anti-fraud annual budget stands at only NT$230 million (around US$6.9 million). Authorities in Taiwan are raising alarms over proposed budget cuts that could weaken anti-fraud efforts and public safety.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) highlighted the issue during a press conference on the 2025 central government budget, noting that the media promotion expenses, vital for public awareness, were mostly slashed from last year's "Anti-Scam Action Program 2.0" (打詐行動綱領2.0). Cho emphasized that reducing funding for fraud-related equipment hampers technological investigations and cross-border fraud mechanisms.
Ma expressed concern that cutting anti-scam promotion funds is akin to surrendering to fraudsters. A November TVBS poll showed over 87% of the public believes anti-scam campaigns must continue, fearing budget cuts would allow fraud rings to evolve further. Ma also mentioned that proposals to cut NT$100 million from the "Resilient National Medical Readiness Project" (韌性國家醫療整備計畫) threaten essential firefighting resources.
Deputy Minister of Justice Hsu Hsi-hsiang (徐錫祥) warned that the opposition parties' proposals to cut NT$12.34 million from media policy advocacy funds would impact legal education and major policy promotion. He also noted that proposed NT$80 million cuts to the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office (台灣高檢署) and Taipei District Prosecutors Office (台北地檢署) would hinder prosecutorial work and criminal investigations.
Hsu added that reducing NT$100 million from the Agency of Correction's (矯正署) budget would affect inmate treatment and facility upgrades, undermining correctional education efforts. As the budget discussions continue, officials urge reconsideration of these cuts to maintain public safety and effective governance.