Survey Finds Scammers Targeting Migrant Workers

TaiwanPlus News

A new survey has found migrant workers are at risk of scams while in Taiwan, including some that target them specifically. Rights groups and some lawmakers say it's time to offer migrant workers more support.

Transcript

00:00A new survey, released today at the legislature, shows that when migrant workers come to Taiwan

00:04they don't just face a language barrier and the other ordinary challenges of a new life

00:08in an unfamiliar country.

00:10This survey suggests they're also at high risk from scammers.

00:14The survey of migrant workers by NGO TransAsia Sisters Association, Taiwan, found 30 percent

00:19of migrant workers have encountered a scam here, with around half that number saying

00:23they fell for it.

00:25These scams take many forms, including the typical online shopping and romance scams

00:29that have become a problem for Taiwanese people as well.

00:32But there are also people out there ready to exploit the special vulnerabilities migrant workers have.

00:37One researcher behind the survey says, some scammers offer to introduce high paying jobs

00:42for a fee, only to run off with the money.

00:45And then there are people who pretend to be the police or a government agency to extort

00:49people.

00:50Another researcher says the system as it stands now, with migrant workers unable to change

00:59employers and tempted to work illegally, creates conditions ripe for scammers to exploit.

01:05She also says migrant workers have little information about their rights or ways to flag abuse in their own languages.

01:20Two lawmakers are here to say this must stop, and that the government must step in.

01:40They say foreign language support and solutions for migrant workers' practical needs, especially

01:44for sending money back home, are key.

01:47The activists gathered here have four demands based on the survey results.

02:06They want more channels for multilingual information.

02:09They want closer work with NGOs' migrant workers' trust.

02:13They want an easier way for migrant workers to flag scammers.

02:17And they say the government should improve working conditions that see some workers flee their employers

02:21and become vulnerable to scammers as they do illegal jobs.

02:25The presence of lawmakers here today suggests that the report has the ears of at least some

02:29in the government.

02:30The migrant rights workers activists hope that this will bring their four demands forward.

02:35Hank Hsu and John Van Trieste in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.

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