On December 10, 2025, the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China announced that the Little Red Book app in Taiwan had a high risk of fraud and did not pass the cybersecurity check, leading to a temporary one-year suspension. The Criminal Investigation Bureau revealed today that there were 950 and 756 fraud cases involving Little Red Book last year and this year, with the majority being related to “cancelling installment payments, fake online shopping, and fake investments.”
The Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of China released a press release titled “Explanation of Investigation Results on the Fraudulent Activities and Data Involving Little Red Book,” stating that according to the data from the “165 Consultation Hotline Reporting System,” the total number of fraud cases involving the Little Red Book platform from January to November this year was 756.
Analysis by the Criminal Investigation Bureau revealed that the main types of fraud cases involving Little Red Book in Taiwan were related to “cancelling installment payments (scamming sellers),” “fake online shopping,” and “fake investments,” with the top 5 fraud methods being: fake online shopping (283 cases), cancelling installment payments (scamming sellers, 196 cases), fake investments (51 cases), fake social relationships (investment fraud, 43 cases), and fraudulent activities related to sexual services (23 cases).
Additionally, the statistics showed that in the period from January to December 2024, there were a total of 950 fraud cases involving Little Red Book; the top 5 fraud methods were cancelling installment payments (scamming sellers, 477 cases), fake online shopping (261 cases), fake social relationships (investment fraud, 39 cases), fraudulent activities related to sexual services (36 cases), and fake investments (29 cases).
The Fraud Prevention Center mentioned that in cases involving “cancelling installment payments (scamming sellers),” “fake online shopping,” and “fake investments,” most people communicated through the built-in (marketplace) trading platform within the Little Red Book app. Subsequently, the fraud groups would guide the victims to use communication tools like LINE to continue the transaction and then direct them to sell products on platforms like 7-11, FamilyMart, etc.
During the transaction, fake buyers would claim they couldn’t complete the order and send fake customer service URLs from the mentioned platforms or LINE accounts; thereafter, counterfeit marketplace customer services would request the victims to cooperate in verifying “online bank transfers” for reasons such as “unactivated payment services, unsigned shipping agreements, incomplete real-name verifications, unsigned integrity transactions,” leading the victims to be deceived.
From August 2024 to November, the Criminal Investigation Bureau reported a total of 58,882 fraudulent websites to the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) for resolution. Regarding violations on fraudulent activities by internet platforms, to ensure compliance with Taiwan laws and the implementation of platform advertising and content management, reports were made on illegal practices by Meta network ads for “not disclosing related information on advertisers and sponsors, lack of management systems, and failure to remove fraudulent ads timely,” resulting in three consecutive penalty notifications totaling NT$18.5 million by November this year.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau, along with local police bureaus, continues to report fraudulent advertisements and content, immediately notifying for takedown, and summarizing illegal patterns for penalty notifications.
Furthermore, two victims were invited to share their experiences as victims on the platform, explaining the process and outcome of being defrauded. They earnestly urged the public to come forward and report fraudulent incidents and mentioned that the Criminal Investigation Bureau will continue to expose fraudulent tactics and provide new cases through the “165 Fraud Dashboard” website. By collaborating with government agencies, academia, and communities, together they aim to enhance public immunity to fraud. They advised the public to report fraud cases promptly and courageously expose the fraudsters to safeguard social trust and the security of people’s property.
In response to recent police comments on the Dcard platform regarding Little Red Book, given the ever-evolving tactics of fraud groups, especially involving cross-border online platforms like Little Red Book and virtual currency cases, the speed of updating fraudulent methods is rapid. Frontline police officers deal with a large number of various cases daily, and the non-handling of cases does not mean they do not exist. Upon investigation, it was confirmed that the 165 system did receive reports of fraud cases related to Little Red Book.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau will intensify awareness efforts in various public settings. When handling official information, it is advised not to leak or comment on it online to avoid tarnishing the image and ethical standards of institutions.