"Digital shield" protects citizens from peak fraud season leading up to Tet.

As the Lunar New Year approaches, the demand for payments and money transfers increases sharply, which is also when online scams escalate with increasingly sophisticated methods. In this context, besides improving technological warning systems, the banking industry is proactively building a multi-layered "digital shield," combining technology, human resources, and close cooperation with the police force to protect customers' assets.

Timely intervention at the transaction counter .

In fact, many scams have been prevented right at bank counters, thanks to the quick thinking and sense of responsibility of the tellers. Recently, the LPBank Luc Nam branch (Bac Ninh province) recorded a case where a female customer came to request an early withdrawal of the entire balance from two savings accounts totaling 400 million VND. During the process, the teller noticed that the customer exhibited unusual behavior, constantly answering phone calls, appearing anxious, and urging the staff to quickly transfer money to an unfamiliar account.

According to a representative from LPBank, through professional discussions, bank staff determined that the customer was being manipulated and threatened by individuals impersonating police officers, who were demanding money transfers for "investigation purposes." Immediately, the teller proactively delayed the transaction, reassured the customer, and contacted the Luc Nam Commune Police. Thanks to the timely coordination between the bank and law enforcement, the customer stopped the money transfer, avoiding the risk of losing all their savings.

Cashless payments are growing rapidly.

A similar situation occurred at BIDV Ha Tinh in early December 2025. While assisting an elderly customer with a money transfer, Ms. TTTN – a teller at BIDV Ha Tinh – noticed that the customer was carrying over 2 billion VND, traveling alone, and appeared anxious and worried. Despite repeated explanations and warnings, the customer continued to request the money transfer.

In response to the emergency, BIDV Ha Tinh proactively notified the Criminal Police Department (Ha Tinh Provincial Police), Thanh Sen Ward Police, and Thach Xuan Commune Police to coordinate the handling of the situation. Only after being directly explained the situation by police officers did the customer calm down and agree to stop the transfer.

According to Ms. LTH (76 years old, residing in Thach Xuan commune), she received a call from someone informing her that her son had been in a serious accident and urgently needed money for emergency treatment. Prior to this, she had sold all her accumulated gold, worth over 2 billion VND. Furthermore, a gold shop employee even "escorted" her to the bank because they were concerned about her carrying such a large sum of money.

According to BIDV Ha Tinh branch director Nguyen Dinh Thinh, this is not the first time the branch's tellers have successfully detected and prevented fraud. To proactively respond to increasingly sophisticated scams, BIDV Ha Tinh regularly strengthens internal training, updating staff on new fraud methods such as impersonation, deepfake, virtual SIM cards, phishing, etc., ensuring tellers have sufficient knowledge and skills to promptly warn customers.

Statistics from banks in Ha Tinh province show that in 2025 alone, bank tellers promptly prevented dozens of fraud cases totaling nearly 10 billion VND. Many bank leaders believe that while automated warning systems are becoming increasingly effective, the human element remains crucial, especially in complex situations requiring verification and direct consultation to ensure customers understand the true nature of the issue.

The technological warning system is proving effective.

At the system-wide level, a representative from the State Bank of Vietnam stated that the Information System for Managing, Monitoring, and Preventing Fraud Risks in Payment Operations (SIMO) issued 2.13 million fraud alerts to customers. Notably, more than 670,000 transactions were proactively stopped or canceled by users after receiving alerts, with a total value exceeding VND 2,570 billion.

These figures show that fraud remains a complex issue, but warning tools have proven highly effective, helping people stop in time before falling into the traps of high-tech criminals.

Along with that, the boom in cashless payments also creates an urgent need to ensure transaction security. According to the State Bank of Vietnam, after 20 years, cashless payment transactions have increased approximately 500 times in number and more than 60 times in value compared to 2005.

Specifically, between 2015 and 2025, internet transactions increased 59 times in volume and 21 times in value; mobile transactions increased 280 times in volume and 600 times in value. QR code payments, which were only popular in 2018, have increased more than 700 times in volume and more than 400 times in value, becoming the dominant method in retail and consumer transactions.

According to representatives from the Ministry of Public Security, investigations have revealed that the majority of online fraud cases involve the use of bank accounts not registered in the account holder's name to receive and transfer money. Therefore, to effectively prevent cybercrime, it is necessary to thoroughly address the buying, selling, and use of bank accounts not registered in the account holder's name.

Following the directives of the Prime Minister and the leaders of the Ministry of Public Security, Department A05 is coordinating with the State Bank of Vietnam and commercial banks to review, screen, and clean up accounts, while also coordinating with police units and localities to verify, investigate, and strictly handle those who collect accounts and the responsibilities of account holders according to the law.

Ahead of the year-end peak, many major banks have been continuously issuing fraud warnings. BIDV recently warned customers about receiving emails impersonating the bank with content such as "identity verification," "transaction verification," accompanied by links containing malware or aimed at stealing personal information.

BIDV affirms that all official information is sent only from emails with the domain bidv.com.vn and absolutely does not include any links that require customers to click on them.

Agribank also warned against individuals creating fake social media pages and groups impersonating the bank's brand to solicit interviews, invite participation in internal projects, and request money transfers. Vietcombank stated that it has recorded instances of individuals impersonating the bank for recruitment, requesting applicants to transfer money or provide account information and OTP codes – actions that are completely contrary to the bank's official recruitment process.

According to experts, the end of the year is a time when criminal activity increases, especially cyber fraud. Experts advise people to absolutely not comply with any requests from strangers via phone or text message; not to provide login information, OTP codes, or card numbers. They also recommend contacting the bank or the police immediately if any unusual activity is detected.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/la-chan-so-bao-ve-nguoi-dan-truc-cao-diem-lua-dao-dip-can-tet-175273.html