Unexpected new trick from loudspeaker to announce receiving money transfer

Money alert speakers, devices that make a sound when money is transferred, began appearing in Vietnam about a year ago and became popular from the beginning of 2025. This device is a small speaker, capable of connecting to the Internet via wifi or 4G/5G mobile network, working with management software or applications of e-wallets. When the system detects a successful transaction from a bank account or e-wallet, the device will receive a signal and make a notification sound.

This device helps small traders and business households confirm transactions quickly, and also acts as a "shield" against sophisticated fraud tricks, such as forging transfer screenshots.

However, recently, some restaurant owners have begun to realize the potential risks of using this device. Reflecting to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Thao Nguyen, a restaurant owner in Ho Chi Minh City, said she had encountered several incidents related to the money transfer speaker. Because she trusted the money transfer speaker and was busy serving customers, she delivered the goods without carefully checking the actual amount received.

"The customer ordered many portions, totaling 200,000 - 300,000 VND for example, but only transferred 200 or 300 VND. Because the speaker only said '200' or '300', I thought the customer had transferred enough and delivered the order.

After a few times of discovering that the money was missing, I don't know if it was intentional or not, but from then on I learned my lesson and only delivered food after seeing the correct amount of money transferred. In general, using this speaker is quite convenient, but you also have to be careful not to lose money" - Ms. Thao recounted.

Mr. Truong Huy, manager of a milk tea shop in Thu Duc City (HCMC), also fell into a similar situation.

Some people take advantage of the money transfer speaker to transfer missing money.

He said there was a customer who came to buy a glass of water for 30,000 VND and then claimed that his bank card had problems and he couldn’t withdraw money, so he asked to borrow another 200,000 VND in cash. After that, this person transferred a total of only… 230 VND.

"Because there were many customers, I only heard the loudspeaker announce '230' so I thought I had received the full payment and delivered the goods immediately. It was not until I checked the day's revenue that I discovered the incident.

There were also a few similar cases before, customers only transferred 120 or 200 VND, but because there were few customers at that time, I discovered it and asked them to transfer the correct amount" - Mr. Huy recounted and said that such incidents have happened several times, forcing him to always be vigilant now.

According to research, not only Mr. Huy and Ms. Thao Nguyen, many other business people with money transfer speakers have encountered similar situations. They recommend listening carefully to the amount displayed on the money transfer speaker before delivering to avoid unnecessary loss of money.

Also related to the money transfer speaker, Vietcombank recently announced the early termination of the promotion program "Refund for buying the God of Wealth Speaker" on May 9, 2025 instead of June 15 as previously announced, due to the lack of gifts.

Previously, many restaurants have also become victims of sophisticated tricks such as having criminals paste fake QR codes over real ones to transfer money to other accounts, or forging bank transfer bills to deceive restaurant owners.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bat-ngo-thu-doan-moi-tu-loa-thong-bao-nhan-tien-chuyen-khoan-196250511113318364.htm