TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Highway Bureau said Monday that it has suspended its email account and closed associated mail channels after an individual received a scam email sent using its address.

The email claimed the sender, despite battling lung cancer, wished to continue helping impoverished people. It asked the recipient to accept a sum of NT$150 million (US$5.5 million) to aid those in need on the sender’s behalf, according to CNA and Liberty Times Net.

The bureau’s cybersecurity monitoring system detected unusual activity involving one of its email server accounts Monday morning, prompting an immediate investigation. Preliminary findings indicate the incident stemmed from a malfunction on a test server managed by a third-party contractor responsible for the bureau’s business information platform.

In response, the bureau suspended the compromised account and disabled related email services. Since then, no similar scam emails have been reported.

The contractor was instructed to disconnect the affected equipment from the network. The bureau also plans to strengthen cybersecurity measures to prevent future breaches.

Officials urged the public not to respond to similar emails and to delete them immediately to safeguard personal information and ensure cybersecurity.