Integrate documents, beware of fraud traps

Targeting businesses and business households

Before July 1, many people received calls from strange numbers asking them to update their personal information via the fake VNeID application. After this time, scammers have changed their tricks, targeting other types of administrative procedures.

Mr. NQB, the owner of a restaurant in Tay Ninh , said: "I received a call from a strange phone number, asking to integrate a business license into the VNeID application and asking to be friends with Zalo to support instructions. My family only runs a small, spontaneous restaurant without a registered business license, but the scammers said that I had to go to the district tax office to register to reduce business tax from 10% to 8%. Now there is no longer a district level, so I immediately guessed this was a scam."

Integrating documents, beware of fraud traps - Photo 1.

Online scammers research and collect personal information very carefully to lure victims into their traps.

PHOTO: QUANG THUAN CREATED BY AI

Also related to taxes, Mr. H.D.H, director of an event organization company in Ho Chi Minh City, has continuously received calls to declare taxes since July 1. "These subjects pretend to be tax agency employees, saying that after July 1, provinces and cities will merge, so businesses will have to re-declare information, and need to do it urgently, otherwise they will be charged back and heavily fined. I am very vigilant and ask many questions to this impersonator, just ask the names of acquaintances who work at the same agency and they will be exposed. Although I have not been fooled, the form of impersonating tax agencies is very popular, we need to speak up to warn", said Mr. H.

Recently, there have been many cases of vehicle owners being tricked by subjects impersonating inspection centers to install applications, especially in the Central region. Specifically, the group of subjects instructed vehicle owners to access a fake link of the Vietnam Registry to declare personal information to serve the purpose of changing inspection stamps. When vehicle owners access the above link, there is a risk of being scammed and having their money stolen. To prevent this situation, the Vietnam Registry has issued a notice to motor vehicle inspection units to warn vehicle owners in the management area.

"For any requests or notifications of money transfers from calls or messages from strange phone numbers (not publicly listed by the Vietnam Register), vehicle owners should absolutely not transfer money. At the same time, do not access fake links from the Department," the representative of the Vietnam Register emphasized.

Nowadays, bad guys and criminal organizations are everywhere, they can secretly monitor and collect users' information. The level of forgery and technology use of these guys is getting more and more sophisticated... The most possible way to prevent this at the present stage is to raise awareness and equip users with knowledge to protect themselves.

Mr. Ngo Minh Hieu (Project Director Chongluadao.vn)

An expert in the field of cyber security commented: "Although the method of impersonating state officials is not a new phenomenon, scammers have shown their ability to adapt and develop increasingly sophisticated methods. Choosing the tax, business registration or vehicle inspection sectors as targets shows the subjects' understanding of psychology. The first step in the scam plan is research and information collection. They can use many different sources, from leaked databases to public information on social networks, to build a target list and detailed profiles of each subject. Next, the second link is responsible for developing scenarios and training communication skills for the team to directly make scam calls. With support tools such as phone number spoofing software or pre-prepared malicious applications, victims who follow their instructions will have their accounts hijacked and their money drained in the blink of an eye."

Post pictures on social networks, be careful not to fall into traps

At the launching event of the online fraud prevention campaign organized by the Ministry of Public Security in coordination with Google recently, the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention pointed out the 7 most common forms of fraud, including: fraud impersonating educational institutions; fraud in recovering suspended capital; service payment fraud; online shopping and travel fraud; fraud impersonating officials and management agencies (Police, Procuracy, Court, Tax, Social Insurance, Vehicle Registration, etc.); emotional fraud for financial gain; and investment fraud on fake platforms.

To build a scenario and find suitable prey, the fraud organization must first steal valuable personal information such as CCCD numbers, phone numbers, addresses, vehicle information, and especially financial information, which can be used for various illegal purposes. This information can be sold to other criminal organizations, used to create fake accounts, or used as a basis for future fraud campaigns.

By installing malicious applications or tricking victims into providing their login credentials, the subjects can conduct unauthorized transactions, transfer money, or even borrow money using the victim's identity. With the development of electronic payments and digital banking, the potential for damage from this access is huge. When malicious applications are installed with full access rights, the subjects can monitor all of the victim's activities, from phone calls to messages, emails, and can even use the camera and microphone to monitor. This creates a long-term threat to personal privacy and security.

Mr. Ngo Minh Hieu, cyber security expert, Director of Chongluadao.vn project, shared: "Currently, bad guys and criminal organizations are everywhere, they can silently monitor and collect users' information. The level of forgery and technology use of these guys is becoming more and more sophisticated. They can use VPN services, proxy servers, and IP address spoofing techniques to make tracking extremely difficult. Moreover, applications can be programmed to automatically erase traces or disable themselves when detecting signs of investigation. The most feasible way to prevent this at the present stage is to raise awareness and equip users with knowledge to protect themselves."

According to expert Ngo Minh Hieu, people today still lack awareness of protecting personal information. For example, posting pictures of houses following trends from Google Maps or posting screenshots of VNeID updating new information, integrated information after merging and implementing 2-level government can allow bad guys to collect a lot of sensitive personal information such as address, place of residence; being monitored for living habits, vehicle type, living standards, security system. It is especially dangerous if photos are shared with names, phone numbers, emails, which can make anyone a target of fraud, impersonation or cyber attacks.

The Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention has just issued a warning: There is a situation of fraud impersonating functional forces of communes/wards... to announce the arrangement of new administrative units across the country. The subjects ask people to access links or install fake VNeID applications containing malicious code, luring people to get OTP codes of bank accounts or biometric data to appropriate property.

People need to be vigilant, do not follow requests over the phone, only update information directly at the police station of the commune/ward where they live; report to the nearest police station for instructions.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tich-hop-giay-to-coi-chung-sap-bay-lua-dao-185250709195949638.htm