Outbreak of fraud of ATM cardholders via phone and social networks

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Fake messages from FE Credit cheat people for money.

Cheating people

Not long ago, Ms. P. D. (Dong Da, Hanoi) received a call from an unknown phone number purporting to be a bank employee. The caller said that Ms. P. D. had a pending transaction to be checked, so asked for her personal details and information about recent transactions, bank card numbers and OTP codes. As the phone number was a personal one, she asked for the name and bank branch, then the hung up.

However, not everyone is as vigilant as Ms. P. D. Many people, especially the elderly and those who lack financial knowledge provide information to cheaters and have money stolen.

Recently, the public security of Vinh Long province served a decision to prosecute and detain Phan Nhat Chuong (29 years old, living in Tan Hanh commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long) for acts of appropriating assets. Chuong confessed that he pretended to be a bank employee to advise and open cards for customers who needed to borrow money. He asked customers to take photos of two sides of their ID card, bank card and pay a fee of VND500,000 to 2,000,000. At the same time, when learning the personal information and bank account of the victim, he would conduct transactions via online payment services and use the OTP code provided by the customer to steal money. Chuong cheated and appropriated VND76,000,000 from a customer living in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to statistics by Hanoi City Public Security, since the beginning of the year, the unit has received 18 written complaints and denunciations with the total appropriated amount of nearly VND33 billion. Criminals mainly used phones and online services to send messages and make phone calls to request users to provide personal information, passwords, pin codes and OTP codes to steal money and bank accounts. According to the public security, the victims are old people (most of them women, over 70 years old) and the scope of this crime is widespread across provinces and cities nationwide.

In addition, a new trick is that the scammer takes advantage of promotions to get customer information. For example, during the promotion program of a large company, they will send fake emails and website links informing about promotional codes and prizes. Winners are asked to pay a fee to receive the prize and must click on the link to enter information, address, account number, and even OTP codes into the fake form. When the information is available, the cheaters will withdraw money and steal accounts.

Protect yourself

According to Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc from Basico Law Firm, in such cases, both people and banks are victims of the cheaters. These cases are not new but increasingly sophisticated, so people must know how to protect themselves and should not provide passwords or personal information to strangers.

Duc said that there are now enough legal documents related to crimes of fraud and appropriation of money and accounts. Therefore, when incidents occur, the public security will have to deal with it. For banks, if the operation has loopholes, the bank also bears a part of responsibility. Recently, banks and intermediary payment companies and e-wallets have warned customers about fraudulent tactics. Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) noted that any calls and messages claiming to be VPBank and requiring OTP and personal information (ID number, account, password) or fees to receive prizes are fake. Kien Long Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Kienlongbank) also issued a warning about the phenomenon that many cheaters are taking advantage of the reputation of banks, and setting up fake website and hotlines to make profits, affecting the image of banks and customers' rights and assets.

Credit institutions require that customers must promptly notify the relevant authorities or the banking system if they have any doubts about fraudulent acts.

In addition, customers also need to protect their personal accounts and not provide passwords or OTP codes to other people, including people claiming to be credit institution employees. Customers also should not provide personal information to the strange website or links. In addition, the public security also requires people to proactively improve their knowledge and awareness for themselves and their families, restricting the sharing of personal information of themselves and their families on the internet.