On Sunday (8 Dec), a mother and daughter were found dead in their home in Taiwan’s Neihu District, in what is believed to be a case of double suicide.
The pair reportedly took their own lives after losing their life savings to a sophisticated investment scam.
Source: ETtoday
Adding to the tragedy, a police officer is now under investigation for allegedly mocking the mother when she sought police assistance after realising she had been scammed.
Local reports suggest that the officer, surnamed Liu, made insensitive remarks during a phone call with the woman.
The scam that led to the deaths began earlier this year, between June and July.
Scammers posed as the popular financial influencers ZRBros, who boast over a million subscribers on YouTube.
Impersonating the influencers, they invited the 54-year-old mother and her 28-year-old daughter to join a LINE group.
Despite ZRBros repeatedly emphasising that they do not use LINE accounts, the pair fell for the ploy.
Source: LINE Global on Facebook, for illustration purposes only
Once in the group, the scammers convinced the mother and daughter to invest, ultimately transferring a total of NT$12 million (approximately S$496,000) in cash.
It wasn’t until the scammers blocked them on LINE that the pair realised they had been deceived.
The mother, who had run a breakfast shop for years, lost her life savings in the scam.
On 8 Dec, her son returned home to find both his mother and sister dead.
According to ETtoday, the woman filed a police report on 4 Dec after realising she and her daughter had fallen victim to an investment scam.
The officer handling the case asked her to prepare the necessary materials and followed up with a call on 6 Dec.
During the call, however, the officer allegedly mocked her for being scammed, even referencing media coverage about such frauds.
At one point, he reportedly asked:
Why aren’t you dead yet?
Two days later, on 8 Dec, the mother and her daughter were found dead in their home.
Their suicide notes explicitly mentioned ridicule from the police, prompting authorities to investigate the officer’s conduct.
Reviewing phone recordings confirmed the officer’s inappropriate language.
Following internal evaluations, he was reassigned to a different division and issued a major demerit.
The incident is now under judicial review, with prosecutors considering charges of abetting suicide under Taiwan’s Criminal Code.
On Monday (9 Dec), the ZRBros took to Instagram to express their sadness and regret over the incident.
They emphasised that they do not run LINE groups, have assistants, or collaborate with other experts, urging followers to ensure they only engage with verified accounts on Facebook and YouTube as all other accounts are fraudulent.
“Although we won’t give up on raising awareness and preventing scams, unfortunately, all the reminders and warnings are just passive prevention, and the actual impact is limited,” they wrote.
“Therefore, we hope that the government and relevant law enforcement agencies will take more proactive measures to stop such tragedies from happening again.”
If you or someone you know needs support, please consider reaching out to the following hotlines:
Also read: Elderly woman loses S$1.2M to scammers who posed as bank & police officers
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Featured image adapted from ETtoday.
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