Asia-Pacific News

Computer breakdown saves Taiwanese woman 25,000 US dollars

Jan 3, 2007, 10:04 GMT

Taipei - An anxious Taiwanese woman who was told her daughter was kidnapped was saved losing thousands of dollars by a computer breakdown, Taiwanese media reported Wednesday. The woman received a phone call from a swindler, who asked that she pay 800,000 Taiwan dollars (25,000 US) in ransom in exchange for the release of her young daughter, the cable news network TVBS said. Believing that her daughter, who was in elementary school and unable to answer calls, was really kidnapped, the woman went to a bank attached to a post office in Hsinying, southern Taiwan, to wire the ransom money to the account provided by the swindler. Although the clerk suspected that it could be a scam and stalled the fund wiring, the mother insisted that the money be sent out. The swindler even phoned the bank clerk asking her to remit the money as soon as possible, TVBS reported. But when the clerk finally agreed to send the money out, the computer system at the bank broke down, and the woman realized her luck as her daughter called from school, saying she was still with her class, the report said. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Asia-Pacific News

Computer breakdown saves Taiwanese woman 25,000 US dollars

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