A hypothetical, invented for illustration: for three months you have chatted with a friendly "trader" who is very good at two things, drawing profit charts that only go up and finding reasons for one more transfer. This is the long, patient investment scam often called pig butchering. The last instruction was to wire money to a bank account in Taiwan. Now the charts have stopped and so have the replies, and you wonder whether anyone in Taiwan will listen to a victim in Ohio.
Why a Taiwan prosecutor can take a complaint from overseas
Criminal Code Article 4 treats an offense as committed in Taiwan if either the act or its result took place there. It asks where things happened, not where the victim lives, though whether a particular case meets that test is for the prosecutor. A complaint can be written or oral and goes to a prosecutor or a judicial police officer (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 242). A prosecutor who learns of a suspected offense through a complaint must begin an investigation (Article 228).
If you want to report a scam to Taiwan police or prosecutors from abroad, an agent can file for you. Article 236-1 allows a written power of attorney, though the authorities may still order you to appear in person. How to engage counsel from abroad is covered in hiring a Taiwan lawyer.
What the account can still give back, and where the limits are
The registered holder is not necessarily the person who planned the scam. Money Laundering Control Act Article 22 bars handing an account to someone else unless there is a justified reason, such as ordinary commercial practice or trust between relatives or friends.
Listing an account as a warning account is up to the authorities, not the victim: the Deposit Account Regulations define it as an account that a court, prosecutors' office or judicial police have told the bank to list (Article 3). Under Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act Article 9(4), judicial police investigating a fraud may tell a bank to list a suspect account and suspend all its functions. Under Article 10, receiving banks must earmark the notified funds and keep monitoring them while police verify within a "reasonable period"; the article gives no number of days.
If your money is still there, the bank "may" return it on the police's written notice (Act Article 11; Anti-Fraud Compliance Regulations Articles 52 and 53, as amended July 20, 2026). You provide ID, the police case-acceptance certificate and an undertaking to bear legal liability if a false application costs the bank money. The bank counts deposits backward from the last one until the balance reaches zero, so only unwithdrawn money is covered. Article 53 has the bank reach victims through the remitting institution and does not say how that works when that bank is abroad, so ask the investigating officer early. Disputed or complex cases go to the courts (Article 69). The holder's side, and the older procedure for accounts flagged on or before March 31, 2025, are in our warning-account column.
Beyond that, prosecutors can seize property that may be evidence or forfeited (Code of Criminal Procedure Article 133). Article 142 returns seized stolen goods that no one else claims to the victim without waiting for the verdict, though whether a given sum qualifies is for the prosecutor. They cannot award you damages during the investigation or promise a result, and the bank route above does not reach money already withdrawn.
A damages claim comes later, as an ancillary civil action after indictment or in a separate civil suit. For victims of a "fraud crime" as the Act defines it, which covers aggravated fraud under Criminal Code Article 339-4 and the Act's Articles 43 and 44 (Article 2), Article 54 temporarily waives court and execution fees in a civil suit and caps the security for a provisional attachment at one-tenth of the claim.
At home, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center says complaints may be referred to "federal, state, local or international law enforcement." It also says it cannot respond to every submission and does not work with law firms or crypto services to recover lost funds (checked October 5, 2026). A report there is a record, not a Taiwan filing, since Article 242 names Taiwan prosecutors and judicial police as the recipients. A paid recovery service that claims ties to IC3 deserves a second look.
A complaint does not undo the transfer. It puts a request in front of the people who can ask the bank to hold what is left, and that balance can shrink while nothing is filed.
Attorney Wei Tseng (曾雋崴) of Hovering International Law Firm can be reached at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw, 7F-2, No. 35, Sec. 1, Chengde Rd., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103, Taiwan (103 臺北市大同區承德路一段35號7樓之2).
Official sources
Checked October 5, 2026.
- Criminal Code, Article 4 (Ministry of Justice).
- Code of Criminal Procedure, Articles 133, 142, 228, 236-1 and 242.
- Money Laundering Control Act, Article 22.
- Fraud Crime Hazard Prevention Act, Articles 2, 9, 10, 11 and 54 (amended January 21, 2026).
- Regulations Governing Deposit Accounts and Suspected Illegal or Apparently Unusual Transactions, Article 3 (Financial Supervisory Commission).
- Anti-Fraud Compliance Regulations, Articles 52, 53 and 69.
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, home page (a US agency's statement, used as a general note only).
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do I have to travel to Taiwan to file a criminal complaint?
- Not necessarily. Under Article 236-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure a complaint can be made through an agent who files a written power of attorney with the prosecutor or judicial police officer, but they may order the complainant to appear in person when they think it necessary. The article does not say whether a power of attorney signed abroad needs notarization or authentication, so confirm that with the office handling the complaint before you sign.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.
