Money-Mule Accounts

A "dummy account" (人頭帳戶) refers to an account belonging to someone else that is collected and obtained by a fraud syndicate through various means. The owners of these accounts are usually not key figures in the scam ring; rather, their accounts may have been purchased or acquired through deception. When the police investigate such accounts, they can only trace them back to the unknowing account provider—namely, the "dummy" (人頭). Fraud syndicates trick victims into transferring money into these accounts and subsequently dispatch operatives to withdraw the funds completely.

Many people hand over their bank accounts and passwords due to reasons such as job hunting, applying for loans, or trusting friends and family; others may simply store their bank passbook and password together for convenience, only to accidentally lose them one day. Many also mistakenly believe that since there is hardly any money left in their account, it does not matter if it is handed over or lost. However, you must never take this lightly, because your account may already have become a "dummy account" in the hands of a fraud syndicate. If a victim files a police report, you are very likely to be referred and prosecuted for the offense of "aiding and abetting fraud" (詐欺幫助犯).

How Did I Become an "Accomplice to Fraud"?

Everyone probably understands what "fraud" (詐欺罪) is. But what is an "accomplice to fraud" (詐欺幫助犯)? An accomplice to fraud refers to someone who, although not personally and actively engaged in scamming people out of their money, assists the fraud syndicate so that they can successfully swindle money. Providing an account is one of the most common forms of this.

You might say that your account was stolen or lost through deception, and that you had no intention of helping the fraud syndicate—so how did you become an "accomplice to fraud"? This is because courts currently apply the concept of "oblique intent" (未必故意) to conclude that citizens handed over their accounts with an attitude of indifference, thereby assisting the fraud syndicate. We believe that such an approach by the courts is unreasonable. When applying oblique intent, it sometimes becomes very similar to "negligence" (過失), yet the Criminal Code does not penalize negligent fraud. Furthermore, constrained by judges' own life experiences, they tend to view the defendant's subjective state through the lens of a "reasonable person," assuming that handing over an account is inherently unreasonable and that the citizen must have known there was a problem yet handed it over anyway. This application of empirical rules is also problematic. However, no matter how unreasonable it may seem, this is currently how judicial practice operates.

被告詐欺如何自保What Should I Do?

If you suspect that your account has been used by a fraud syndicate as a dummy account, you should immediately take the following actions to minimize damages and prepare for potential upcoming legal proceedings.

1. Report the Passbook and ATM Card Lost

2. File a Police Report

   If your account has been used as a dummy account by a fraud syndicate, please be sure to report it to the police and "strictly ensure" that you obtain a triplicate police report form (報案三聯單). After filing the report, preserve and provide any relevant information about the fraud syndicate to the police as much as possible, such as contact phone numbers, newspaper job advertisements and dates, and online communication records on Skype, Line, etc. On one hand, this creates an initial police record and preserves preliminary evidence to corroborate that you truly had no intention of assisting the fraud syndicate; on the other hand, if the police subsequently crack down on the syndicate, they can summon its members to explain how they deceived people into obtaining accounts and other such circumstances, thereby fighting for an acquittal.

   Should the police refuse to accept your report, at the very least ask them on the spot to check the status—for instance, whether a scam phone number has already been reported—or at least leave a record of informal filing (備案, meaning the matter is logged, but the police will not investigate it as a criminal case). Alternatively, use other reporting methods, such as calling the 110 emergency line, the 165 anti-fraud hotline, or filing a report online. In short, try your best to leave some record.

   Ultimately, the police are actually prohibited from refusing to accept citizen reports. If you encounter such a situation, you can report it via the National Police Agency's website under the "Commissioner's Mailbox" (署長信箱), specifying which police precinct or station, at what time, and which officer refused to accept the report, and ask the National Police Agency to hold the relevant personnel administratively accountable.

3. Seek Legal Assistance

   Generally speaking, whenever there is a possibility of facing litigation, seeking the assistance of an attorney is recommended. Because attorneys possess legal expertise, they are better equipped to understand how to prepare for impending legal proceedings, and they know how to make arguments during the investigation and trial stages in order to strive for an acquittal or the client's best interests. Some people inadvertently say the wrong thing, leading the court to deem their statements inconsistent and therefore labeling them as liars, or they lose their lawsuits because they do not know how to advocate for favorable evidence within procedural rules. With the help of an attorney, such situations can be largely avoided.

4. Gather Evidence Independently

   Aside from reporting your passbook and ATM card lost, filing a police report, and seeking legal assistance, the final and crucial step is to gather evidence on your own as quickly as possible. Please note: what follows is the collection of "authentic" evidence. Some fraud syndicates instruct citizens to commit perjury; for example, when a citizen's account was clearly stolen through a job-seeking scam, the syndicate instructs them to claim it was lost after discovering the deception. Such an approach is ill-advised because fraud syndicates use the same methods to instruct people to commit perjury—such as teaching everyone to claim that their passbook was lost on a scooter with the password written on a certain page. Courts handle many such cases, and having heard these similar defense arguments too many times, they simply will not believe them. Therefore, it is far better to properly gather authentic evidence and tell the truth to persuade the court.

   After gathering the evidence, make sure to review the chronological sequence of events yourself, in as much detail as possible. For instance, note every single phone call and what was said to the fraud syndicate. Use the discovered evidence to recall various details (such as whether you mailed the password together with the ATM card to the fraud syndicate, or mailed the ATM card first and provided the password over the phone later); write down what you remember immediately, and note down what you do not remember as forgotten. In court, remember to speak only about matters you clearly remember, and state that you do not remember things you have forgotten; you must never fabricate stories. Otherwise, if your statements inadvertently become inconsistent, the court will conclude that you are lying.

   Generally speaking, the evidence you may be able to gather includes:

   • Loss-reporting records
   • Police report records (110, the 165 anti-fraud hotline, police reports filed at regular police stations, etc.)
   • Call logs (caution: must be requested within 6 months, otherwise they can no longer be retrieved!), text messages, or online chat logs with the fraud syndicate or the person who took your account.
   • All testimonial and physical evidence that can corroborate the process by which your account was initially obtained via deception (e.g., online job application resumes, recruitment advertisements posted by the fraud syndicate).
   • The usage status of all your personal accounts (it will be more favorable if there was money in them and frequent cash inflows and outflows).
   • Your personal social circumstances and financial resource status. It is easier to argue for an acquittal if you have a normal, stable job (meaning you would not sell your account for a small profit), lack life experience with similar deceptive scenarios (making it difficult to recognize the scam), or have an intellectual or mental disability (which explains why you were deceived or why the defendant could not be expected to realize it was a scam).

For a more comprehensive explanation, please refer to "What Should I Do If My Account May Have Been Used as a Dummy Account by a Fraud Syndicate?"