From impersonating charity funds to QR code money transfer traps
Not only facing the burden of making a living, many workers in difficult circumstances also become targets of fraudsters.
Reflecting to Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (character name has been changed), a worker at a garment company in Can Tho City, said that she almost became a victim of the trick of impersonating a charity fund. Her husband suffered a stroke, lost his ability to work, two young children, and the whole family only relied on her meager worker salary.
After her situation was known to many people, Ms. Lan received a call from a person claiming to be a representative of a charity fund, informing her that her family's support application had been approved with the amount of 30 million VND. However, to be disbursed, the subject asked her to transfer 500,000 VND in advance on the grounds that this was "application receipt fee" and "information verification fee for beneficiaries".
Suspecting that she had to pay money to receive support, Ms. Lan refused to do so. A few minutes later, the subject continuously urged her to transfer money and then cut off contact when she did not achieve her goal.
Defrauders also continuously change methods to approach families in difficult circumstances. Recently, the family of Mr. Bui Xuan Can and Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu (Chau Thanh ward, Can Tho city) also became the target of a charity money transfer drama to appropriate property.
Mr. Can unfortunately had a work accident, completely lost the ability to move his right arm and was assessed as having a 71% reduction in working capacity. From then on, all economic burdens fell on the shoulders of his wife, Ms. Dieu, when she was alone taking care of her husband and three young children.
After Lao Dong Newspaper published an article reflecting the family's situation, many readers and philanthropists called and texted to encourage and share. Taking advantage of this, a subject contacted Ms. Dieu, announcing that they would support money, then sent a QR code and instructed her to perform the operations under the pretext of "receiving charity money".
Fortunately, I was suspicious and did not follow the instructions of the scammers" - Ms. Dieu shared.
Increasingly sophisticated fraud tricks
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Le Phuoc Hoa - Director of Technology of Social Enterprises Against Fraud, said that the above tricks all aim to seize control of bank accounts or steal money from victims.
When they have ATM card information, Internet Banking account or OTP code, the subjects can quickly carry out a series of financial transactions" - Mr. Hoa said.
According to him, victims' money is often transferred to intermediate accounts, then continuously circulated through many different accounts to erase traces. Many lines also use automatic tools to make transactions in just a few minutes, before withdrawing cash or converting to electronic money, making tracking difficult.
Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thu Ha - Head of the Social Work Department, Lao Dong Newspaper - recommends that readers, when they want to support difficult circumstances through the Golden Heart Charity Social Fund, only transfer money to the official account announced on Lao Dong Newspaper and the official website of the Newspaper.
Lao Dong Newspaper does not publish the personal account numbers of any circumstances to receive donations. At the same time, supported families do not have to pay any fees such as dossier receipt fees, verification fees, disbursement fees or any other fees to receive support.
According to Ms. Ha, scammers often take advantage of articles about difficult circumstances to insert fake account numbers or guide people to transfer money according to unofficial information. Therefore, readers should only follow the instructions posted on the official channels of Lao Dong Newspaper.
The Ministry of Public Security has repeatedly advised people to be vigilant against acts of illegally collecting personal information on cyberspace; not to provide bank account information, OTP codes or perform money transfer requests, scan QR codes according to instructions from strangers.
When detecting individuals or organizations showing signs of taking advantage of personal information to commit illegal acts, people need to promptly notify functional agencies.
Everyone needs to raise awareness of protecting personal data of themselves and their loved ones. Sharing information responsibly on social networks not only helps protect themselves but also contributes to building a safe information environment and limiting online fraud.
