The case of harassment involving Beiyi girl's goddess Cai Ruixue on IG may be the first exposed instance of catfishing online fishing impersonation fraud in Taiwan.

The goddess Cai Ruixue recently reported to the police, accusing a certain internet celebrity of stalking and sexual harassment. What appears to be a sexual harassment case, after investigation by the police, is possibly a fraud group using the identities of the two parties involved to conduct some bizarre and ambiguous scams. From the news, it seems that the fraud group intends to use "job invitations" as bait to make both individuals believe it is genuine. During the conversation with the other party, Cai Ruixue was harassed by inappropriate messages, which may also be a setup for extortion by the fraud group. The police believe the fraud group's criminal intent is unclear, and the author believes this could be a Catfishing Scam, a type of fraud prevalent on Facebook and Instagram.

This incident is worth warning for Taiwanese people who are not familiar with Catfishing scams, as it may be the first time Catfishing impersonation scams have been reported by the media in Taiwan. According to news reports, the scam group is suspected to have been run by one person playing two roles, who obtained the IG account content and identities of Tsai Ruiling and internet celebrity Sun Weiting, created two new IG accounts, claimed to be a secondary account, and then used the secondary account to chat with the official accounts of the two individuals, eventually arranging for them to meet.

What is Catfishing?

Catfishing refers to someone using a false identity to trick the victim into believing that there is an online friendship or romance between the two of them, when the victim believes the fake account on the Internet, they may share the victim's secret on the network or disclose the victim's private file to others, so that the victim feels embarrassed, humiliated and uneasy, and the fraud group will further defraud the victim of money. The fraud group will also pressure or induce the victim to send nude photos or engage in online sex, and then extort money from the victim, causing the victim to be stressed and troubled.

Catfishing crime method

Catfish scams create one or several fake accounts, often targeting good-looking influencers or celebrities on Facebook or IG. Sometimes they even hack into their accounts to impersonate them on social media to deceive others. They will chat with victims as if they are familiar, and then make some requests, such as asking the victim for private photos or videos, or asking the victim to invest in cryptocurrency.

How to identify Catfishing

Catfishing scams aggressively send messages to victims once they have identified their targets, luring them into conversations on platforms like Line or Whatsapp, which is the first red flag. Additionally, catfishing scams often feature the tactic of instructing victims to "not tell anyone," emotionally blackmailing them. A simple way to identify this is when you see someone online asking you not to disclose any secrets related to your relationship while also requesting you to share more personal information, you should immediately raise your alert.

Scam groups are currently targeting many artists. Earlier this year, artist Wang Xing was also lured to the Miaowadi KK Park by a scam group under the pretext of a commercial performance, and was forced to participate in telecom fraud. There have already been many cases of fraud among artists. Artists are now experiencing a decrease in workload, and using work invitations as a common fishing scam tactic. The case of Cai Ruixue is filled with doubts, and the Taiwanese police cannot find the criminals' intent to commit the crime, making it difficult to investigate further. It was only because Cai Ruixue bravely reported the case that the news was exposed. The online world is full of traps, and vigilance is essential for protecting one's safety. It is important to maintain a skeptical attitude towards overly enthusiastic and proactive netizens or work invitations, and not to easily disclose personal privacy, let alone transfer money or provide private photos. If encountering a similar situation, one should immediately report to the police for assistance.

This article about the mystery of harassment on IG by the goddess Tsai Ruixue from Taipei First Girls High School may be the first case of Catfishing online phishing impersonation in Taiwan, first appearing on Chain News ABMedia.