A Taiwanese court has handed a scam-ring runner 16 months in prison for cashing out stolen money through convenience-store game point cards — a sign that courts are punishing low-level members even when they earn nothing.

• A man surnamed Li joined a fraud ring in March and used QR codes taken from victims to buy NT$80,000 in game point cards.
• He sent the card serial numbers back to the group's chat, which hid where the stolen money went.
• The promised pay was tiny — NT$100 for every NT$100,000 bought — and he never actually got paid.
• The court still gave him 16 months plus a NT$15,000 fine, noting he already had a fraud conviction and had not changed.
• The victim spotted the fraud and went to the police, which broke the scheme.

Outlook: The ruling can be appealed, but the tough sentence signals courts will keep going after the disposable foot soldiers scam rings recruit.