A Taichung doctor launched a consent petition on the government policy platform, collecting 2,200 signatures since May 10. The initiative requires wire transfer recipients to consent before receiving money, a mechanism known as payee consent for inbound transfers. Doctor Lin started the consent petition after suspected scammers retaliated against her by wiring a small sum into her account. She had blocked and reported the fraudsters during a social media auction for hotel reservations. However, the small deposit triggered an automatic flag on her account, and authorities listed her as a possible suspect.
Consequently, Lin faced severe restrictions on her daily life. Holders of flagged accounts lose access to their assets for up to two years and cannot receive salaries, pay rent or mortgages. Their credit scores also suffer heavy damage during the freeze. Financial regulators have flagged the bank accounts of roughly 150,000 Taiwanese in connection with fraudulent transactions, regardless of actual complicity. Therefore, the consent petition aims to stop innocent people from becoming trapped in such situations.
The proposed system introduces two-step verification whenever an account holder receives a first transfer from a new party. This directly curbs scams by blocking unauthorized deposits. Moreover, users can pre-emptively whitelist relatives and associates to reduce inconvenience. No country has fully implemented such a consent petition mechanism yet, though posts about it have been shared roughly 600,000 times on social media. The proposal must gather 5,000 signatures before July 11 for the government to comment.
Taichung Legal Affairs Bureau Director Li Shanzhi confirmed that scammers often wire money to innocent third parties for laundering or retaliation. He noted that police investigations frequently take years to clear an innocent person. Consequently, victims can lose their livelihoods while waiting. Li urged the central government to consider the consent petition regardless of whether it passes the signature threshold. “It is imperative for the public to engage in transactions only on government-approved platforms,” he said.
The Criminal Investigation Bureau stated that implementation would require coordination with financial institutions’ core infrastructure. It plans to relay the matter to the Financial Supervisory Commission for further review.
