Lost 216 million VND because of being tricked into changing information on VneID
Speaking with Lao Dong Newspaper reporter, Ms. Vu Hien (name changed), a worker at Nissei Electrict Vietnam Company (Linh Trung 1 Export Processing Zone, Ho Chi Minh City) was still sad and angry because she was scammed online and lost 216 million VND in online savings.
Ms. Hien said that on October 21, when she had just returned home from work, she received a call from a strange phone number informing her that her photo and fingerprint on the VNeID application were blurred and that she had to return to her hometown in Tien Giang province to change it. About 10 minutes later, another person claiming to be a police officer in the commune where Ms. H. resided said that her application for a Standard 2 Citizen Identification Card had been sent to Tien Giang province and said that he would help her complete the application, then asked if her VNeID app was currently green or red.
When she said her VNeID app was green, this person said that the green VNeID app is no longer safe, but the red one is safe, and said he would support her and read her personal information and place of residence.
Next, this person asked her if she used an online bank account or not, did she have biometrics and said he would support her to make the bank more secure. At the same time, he told her to open the bank app installed on her phone to change her password, and transfer 6,000 VND to this person. When Ms. H. said she did not transfer the money, this person said it was not to him but to the Fatherland Front Committee for charity support, and told her to turn off her phone and wait 24 hours for the results.
“However, just a moment later, when I checked my bank account, I was shocked to see that all of my online savings of 216 million VND in my bank account had been lost. Only then did I realize I had been scammed,” Ms. Hien sobbed.
Ms. Hien is not the only worker who was scammed. After her husband died of COVID-19, Ms. Le Dien (name changed), also a worker at Nissei Electric Vietnam Company, went online to take on part-time jobs as advertised. Every time she was about to receive money, the employer found a reason to say that she was not eligible to receive the money. When she estimated that she had earned more than 200 million VND, the other party said that in order to get the money, Ms. Dien needed to deposit an equivalent amount of money into the account they specified. Believing the words, feeling sorry for her hard work for several months, Ms. Dien transferred money to the other party's designated account and lost more than 200 million VND.
Need to step up propaganda to help workers avoid online fraud
Another form of online fraud that Lao Dong Newspaper's Legal Consulting Office often receives information about for consultation is that an online acquaintance sends a gift with a large amount of cash (usually USD) from abroad to Vietnam. Then, someone calls to say that the goods have arrived in Vietnam, and must deposit a sum of money from several million to several tens of millions into the account to get the goods out.
There was a case where, after being advised by us that he was being scammed, the reader replied to the “foreigner”, who threatened that if he did not transfer the money to them, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) would track him down and put him in prison for 21 years. Only after we repeatedly advised him that he was being scammed, did the reader finally escape this scam.
At a recent public opinion meeting with Ho Chi Minh City union officials, Senior Lieutenant colonel Do Minh Kim, Deputy Head of Division 3, Department A05 (Ministry of Public Security) said that currently, bad elements are taking advantage of groups related to workers, influencing through many different channels without publicly calling directly, to spread fraudulent information, appropriating assets, calling for investment, performing virtual tasks, lottery, gambling... complicating the situation of social order and safety.
Senior Lieutenant Colonel Kim also said that some financial leasing companies and loan applications take advantage of workers' difficult circumstances, collecting personal information to connect with fraud groups. They even open ATM cards for workers and then resell them to scammers.
Senior Lieutenant colonel Kim suggested that unions and businesses should step up propaganda about cybercrime, helping workers understand common phishing attacks and how to protect themselves.
