Scams increase during Tet holiday; banks advise on prevention methods.

To avoid falling into the trap of scammers, credit institutions advise people in Ha Tinh to be vigilant, absolutely not provide personal information, and not access strange links.

As Tet approaches, the high volume of bank transactions creates opportunities for fraudsters to operate.

On January 9, 2024, Ms. Hoang Thi L. (Luu Vinh Son commune, Thach Ha district) was scammed out of 10 million VND. Prior to this, Ms. L. received a call from someone claiming to be a lender. Needing money, she quickly followed the instructions and clicked on a link provided by the scammer. The scammer requested Ms. L. transfer 10 million VND to an account, promising that "after the transfer is successful, your account will receive 100 million VND as a loan." The scammer then tried to trick Ms. L. into transferring another 10 million VND, claiming that the previous 10 million VND transfer was due to a lack of clear transaction details.

On January 11, 2024, Ms. L. went to the Agribank branch in Ha Tinh province to transfer 10 million VND as requested by the perpetrator. During the transaction, the bank staff suspected the customer was being scammed, so they coordinated with the police to explain and reassure her, and Ms. L. decided to stop the transaction.

Scams increase during Tet holiday; banks advise on prevention methods.

Ms. Nguyen Thi V. (Thach Ha) received assistance from Agribank Ha Tinh Provincial Branch officials and Bac Ha Ward Police (Ha Tinh City) in securing 450 million VND.

Previously, on January 2, 2024, Ms. Nguyen Thi V. (Luu Vinh Son commune, Thach Ha district) was also successfully stopped by Agribank Ha Tinh branch staff while she was in the process of transferring 450 million VND. According to her, Ms. V. received a call from someone claiming to be a telecommunications official, informing her that her phone number was the same as someone else's (who was involved in a drug case) and that a police officer would call her for questioning. Later, Ms. V. received another call from someone claiming to be a police officer, informing her that she was involved in a drug case and that they had sent her an arrest warrant. The caller demanded that Ms. V. transfer 450 million VND to assist in the investigation; fortunately, she received assistance from bank staff and police officers, ensuring the safety of her assets.

In 2023, Agribank's Ha Tinh Provincial Branch successfully thwarted dozens of fraud cases. From January 1, 2024 to the present, the entire branch has successfully prevented nearly 10 fraud cases, helping customers protect a significant amount of money. Besides old scams, new fraudulent tactics have emerged, such as: individuals impersonating the bank's SMS numbers or social media pages to send suspicious links or offer inaccurate promotional information; and impersonating bank employees to offer cash withdrawals from credit cards...

Scams increase during Tet holiday; banks advise on prevention methods.

Agribank staff at the Ha Tinh Provincial Branch guide customers on safe ways to use digital banking.

Mr. Vo Huy – Deputy Director of Agribank Ha Tinh Provincial Branch, advised: “To ensure safe banking transactions in the digital age, customers need to be vigilant when receiving SMS messages, check the information received, and be cautious when accessing links contained in messages. Customers should note that Agribank absolutely does not send any messages containing links requesting customers to provide or enter their username/password. Agribank only has one official website address at: https://agribank.com.vn/ .”

Customers must absolutely not provide confidential information such as login names, OTP codes, card numbers, CVV codes, account passwords, etc., through unverified links, messages, chats, or calls under any circumstances. Do not contact or provide personal information, ID card numbers, household registration numbers to strangers or third parties online or by phone, including those claiming to be police officers, investigators, or bank employees, to avoid having your personal information stolen and used illegally.

Vietcombank Ha Tinh is currently providing digital banking services to over 100,000 customers. Besides its advantages, online transactions also carry significant risks, including the leakage of personal information and the loss of funds from customer accounts if security and safety principles are not strictly followed. While there are no precise statistics, many customers using the Vietcombank Digibank app have suffered financial losses due to falling victim to scams.

Scams increase during Tet holiday; banks advise on prevention methods.

Vietcombank Ha Tinh is currently providing digital banking services to over 100,000 customers.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Ha, Head of Customer Service at Vietcombank Ha Tinh, stated: “Currently, there are two common types of fraud. Firstly, fraud involves stealing banking information by impersonating Vietcombank's SMS messages; creating fake websites and fan pages; and scamming people by impersonating tax officials, police officers, or bank employees requesting them to install banking software. Secondly, fraud involves tricking customers into transferring money themselves by impersonating bank employees, hospital staff, court officials, police officers, postal workers, telecommunications companies, etc., requesting customers to transfer money.”

To ensure safety, customers should not disclose their login name, password, or OTP to anyone, under any circumstances. Customers should only log in through trusted devices and not save login information on any device; change their password every 3 months or immediately if they suspect their information has been compromised; and verify the person making the request...

Currently, in addition to the "big four" – Agribank, Vietcombank, Vietinbank, and BIDV – other joint-stock commercial banks in the area are also strengthening communication to help customers identify fraudulent schemes; focusing on equipping bank staff with skills and enhancing customer communication to promptly detect and prevent fraud.

According to the leaders of the State Bank of Vietnam's Ha Tinh Provincial Branch, in order to contribute to preventing and limiting the risks of criminals exploiting the opening and use of payment accounts for fraudulent, deceptive, and illegal purposes, the State Bank of Vietnam has requested credit institutions to seriously implement solutions to ensure safety for opening payment accounts/bank cards electronically and opening payment accounts/bank cards at transaction counters.

Furthermore, credit institutions should proactively implement measures to prevent and combat fraud and scam risks, such as: not sending customers (via email, text message, etc.) content containing links to prevent criminals from using fake links to steal information and gain control of accounts.

Banks are also reviewing to ensure that each customer uses only one device to log into the Mobile Banking application; reviewing solutions, tools, and software that can detect and warn of unusual transactions in the internet banking service system. In addition, they are implementing diverse methods and measures to assess customers' understanding of fraud and security risks.

Comment (0)