Ho Chi Minh City Blood Donation Center places a warning notice about blood donor scammers at the entrance to the blood collection area - Photo: THANH HIEP
More than 300 blood donors have reported to the Ho Chi Minh City Blood Donation Center because these calls impersonate medical facilities that are organizing blood donations to scam people. With sophisticated tricks, knowing blood donation history and then threatening with abnormal blood results, many people have fallen into the trap.
Launching sophisticated fraud tricks
On blood donation groups and clubs, many individuals said they received calls claiming to be employees of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital, the Ho Chi Minh City Blood Donation Center... informing them that their blood donation results were abnormal and that they needed to connect with a "doctor" to "register for a medical examination".
Scam calls "attacking" blood donors began appearing from the end of May and have continued until now, mainly in the Ho Chi Minh City area. The common point of all the phone numbers that blood donors receive is that they are blocked immediately after each call. A blood donor will receive many different calls, from many different people.
Information about the donor's blood donation history (time, location), blood type, and even daily habits are all known to the scammers with almost absolute accuracy. This is the "pressure point" that makes the donor believe that the person on the other end of the line is a medical staff at the place where they donated blood.
Bad guys continue to scare people with abnormal blood results (high red blood cell count, hepatitis B, C, high blood fat...). Playing on their anxiety, they ask blood donors to make friends on Zalo with the "doctor" to get "examination instructions".
This "doctor" will send a link to the blood donor's Zalo account to download the application, confirm biometrics (take a photo of the face), provide VNeID... From here, the donor's bank account is very likely to lose money. At the same time, all the phone numbers that the scammers have called the blood donor will be locked, and the "doctor's" Zalo account will also disappear.
More than 300 cases of receiving scam calls
A representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital said that recently they have received many complaints from blood donors and blood donation organizations, including some cases of money loss, such as the case of Ms. KT (living in Ho Chi Minh City) who lost 4.2 million VND.
Sharing with Tuoi Tre, Ms. T. said that she had donated blood many times. All the information from her blood donations was told accurately by the scammers, even the time she was unable to donate blood because she did not meet the health requirements after the screening.
"My bank account has more than 4.2 million VND. After connecting Zalo with the "doctor", downloading the app to register for a medical examination according to the instructions, and entering the password, my account was almost completely deducted, leaving only nearly 100,000 VND. I immediately called them back but they couldn't get through. I continued to call District 4 Medical Center - where I went to donate blood - to ask more, then this place called to report to the Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital", Ms. T. said indignantly.
Ms. T. said that even though she had been scammed out of money, the scammer continued to call and bother her many times. When she blocked this number, another number called, forcing her to reset her phone.
Another victim, TNMK, also claimed that her blood donation information was leaked. The number +84326266570 called and said that K.'s blood index had a problem and instructed her to connect via Zalo to make an appointment with a "doctor". "They read my blood donation history correctly. When I said I would go to the hospital to check again, they cursed at me and hung up," K. recounted.
Following the same "scenario", even Ms. Tran Thi Tham, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Humanitarian Blood Donation Center, also received scam calls. Ms. Tham said that from May 26 to now, the center has received more than 300 cases of feedback on receiving scam calls. Most blood donors were alert and found something unusual so they contacted the center. However, there were 2 cases of blood donors following the instructions of the strange phone number and were scammed out of 2.3 million VND and 6.4 million VND.
"In some cases, if you don't follow the instructions, the scammers will use insulting words, scold you, and threaten you," Ms. Tham added.
Kindness saves people in danger
Why is the blood donor's information leaked in detail is a question many people ask when the noble act is being exploited by bad guys to defraud and appropriate property.
Mr. Tran Truong Son, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross Society, said that as soon as he received the report from the Humanitarian Blood Donation Center, the association directed the center to immediately contact the information technology department to check and, together with the Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital, post a warning about the above behavior on social networking sites and the Golden Blood Drop application (giotmauvang.org.vn).
After discussing and reviewing information security during the working process, the relevant parties found that: from blood donors who registered to donate blood from the Golden Blood Drop application, to those who did not donate blood or did not use the Golden Blood Drop application, they also received fraudulent calls.
Faced with this urgent issue, the City Red Cross Society has directed the City Blood Donation Center to continue to coordinate with the City Informatics Association, the City Blood Transfusion and Hematology Hospital and a number of related units to develop information security measures. At the same time, proactively work with the City Police to ensure the safety and security of information for blood donor data.
What should people note?
Ho Chi Minh City Humanitarian Blood Donation Center, Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) reminds people:
- Do not provide personal information such as ID card, OTP code, bank account... via phone or text message.
- Do not follow instructions from suspicious calls.
- Do not click on any links sent via Zalo or messages if they have not been verified.
- Call to verify immediately with the Blood Transfusion - Hematology Hospital at (028) 3955 7858 or the Humanitarian Blood Donation Center (028) 38686856 when in doubt.
What do security experts say?
Graphics: TAN DAT
Regarding the cause of the leak of personal information of blood donors, many security experts have questioned the possibility of data leakage from the blood receiving place or related parties.
Some direct causes that may occur are that many blood donation sites still use manual documents to collect information (ID card, phone number, address, health status...) and these documents can be photocopied, stolen or improperly disposed of; some individuals working at blood donation centers, hospitals or coordinating units can copy and sell blood donor information to third parties; information storage systems lack encryption, do not have adequate protection, and are vulnerable to intrusion or unauthorized access.
There is also the possibility that related organizations such as the Red Cross, hospitals or sponsors may share data with partners (blood banks, event organizers...) without strict confidentiality constraints, leading to leaks.
Regarding measures for users to protect themselves, speaking with Tuoi Tre, Mr. Ngo Tan Vu Khanh, country director in Vietnam of Kaspersky Security Company, said that users should be cautious when receiving calls or messages of unknown origin, especially if there is a request to provide personal or financial information.
Verify the authenticity of individuals or organizations claiming to represent hospitals or blood donation centers. Never provide sensitive information or conduct financial transactions with unverified individuals or organizations. Users should also report suspicious behavior to the appropriate authorities.
Kaspersky representative also recommended that organizations in Vietnam need to be proactive in data security, including developing incident response plans and regularly assessing risks. Prioritizing data protection and keeping up with new security trends will help organizations effectively protect sensitive information and maintain community trust.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/chieu-tro-lua-dao-moi-hu-doa-nguoi-hien-mau-de-chiem-doat-tai-san-20250715233453033.htm
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