"Digital Shield" Prevents Online Fraud

This also shows that online fraud remains a complex issue, and customers need to be cautious during the peak year-end trading season.

The latest figures released by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) show that the Information System for Managing, Monitoring, and Preventing Fraud 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. This figure indicates that fraud remains a complex issue, but the warning tools have proven to be quite effective.

Risks lurk

LPBank (Loc Phat Vietnam) reported that recently, the LPBank Luc Nam branch (Bac Ninh province) recorded a case of a female customer requesting to withdraw the entire amount from two savings accounts totaling 400 million VND before maturity. During the process, the teller noticed that the customer exhibited unusual behavior, appearing anxious, constantly answering phone calls, and urging the staff to quickly transfer money to an unfamiliar account.

"Through professional discussions and understanding the customer's psychology, the bank staff determined that this customer was being manipulated and threatened by individuals posing as police officers, demanding money transfers for 'investigation'. Immediately, the teller delayed the transaction, reassured the customer, and contacted the Luc Nam Commune Police. Thanks to the timely intervention of the bank and law enforcement, the customer stopped transferring the money," a representative from LPBank recounted.

With the surge in online shopping and payments during the year-end season, banks are advising users to be cautious of scams. (Photo: LAM GIANG)

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, to date, 122 out of 147 units have successfully reported to the SIMO system, with a total of nearly 600,000 payment accounts/e-wallets showing signs of suspected fraud, scams, or legal violations. The SIMO system has helped credit institutions make decisions to immediately block transactions or require account verification and identification before online transactions. This solution contributes to minimizing fraud and scams, thereby protecting the safety of customers' payment accounts and e-wallets.

Speaking with a reporter from the Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Mr. Vo Do Thang, Director of the Athena Cybersecurity Center, analyzed the current difference: fraud prevention is no longer carried out individually at each bank, but is connected and shared across the entire system by the State Bank of Vietnam. Banks are applying AI to analyze unusual transactions and simultaneously exploiting big data to build "blacklists" of individuals and organizations showing signs of fraud, including cases where a person opens multiple accounts at different banks.

Strengthening prevention and control measures.

The Zalopay payment application announced that it has collaborated with the Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS) and the State Bank of Vietnam to pilot a feature that alerts users to suspicious receiving accounts suspected of fraud or scams. This alert feature will be applied on a trial basis to money transfer transactions on Zalopay, including both in-wallet transfers and interbank transfers via Napas 24/7; it operates based on Zalopay's fraud assessment system and information provided by SIMO.

The MoMo super app also implements two new security features: AI technology and community feedback, creating a "double shield" to help over 30 million customers proactively prevent risks when transacting online. Warnings are issued based on a list of suspicious accounts from regulatory authorities, combined with data from the MoMo user community and an AI model that detects unusual behavior. This gives customers more information to consider before clicking the transfer button.

Meanwhile, Facebook is deploying AI on Messenger to detect suspicious messages and warn about fake accounts. In the first half of 2025, Meta removed more than 5.4 million pieces of content on Facebook and 14,000 pieces of content on Instagram related to fraud and scams in Vietnam. Zalo also proactively warns when it detects suspicious messages...

Mr. Khoi Le, Country Director for Vietnam at Meta (Facebook's parent company), stated that the company continuously invests in its personnel and technology, strengthening its automated detection systems to promptly detect and prevent fraudulent activities.

From a technological perspective, expert Huynh Huu Bang assessed that warning systems like the State Bank of Vietnam's SIMO or warning features on Facebook and Zalo have provided important tools to support people, helping them to be more vigilant against unusual messages, calls, or transactions. The recording of over 2 million fraud warnings shows that the risk density in the digital environment is very high.

"The fight against fraud is a never-ending race. Fraudsters constantly change their scenarios and tactics every day, every hour. Therefore, the warning system must be continuously upgraded; it cannot be expected to reach a perfect state. Technology only plays a supporting role, while the decisive factor remains the awareness of the users," Mr. Bang observed.

Always maintain a high level of vigilance.

Experts advise that during the year-end period, people need to be highly vigilant about requests for urgent money transfers, OTPs, passwords, or the installation of unfamiliar applications. All content related to banks, gifts, investments, promotions, etc., must be verified.

According to Zalo, being vigilant and controlling personal information not only helps protect accounts but also helps users avoid many greater risks.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/la-chan-so-ngan-lua-dao-tren-mang-196251214223953651.htm