Online fraud is difficult to stop because of junk bank accounts.

According to the Information Security Department, junk bank accounts, bought and sold for 2-3 million VND, are the source of recent online money scams.

At the press conference of the Ministry of Information and Communications on the morning of May 5, the Department of Information Security reported on the rampant online fraud. Among these, the new one is deepfake calls. Fraudsters use AI to copy portraits to create videos impersonating the victim's relatives and friends and make online scam calls.

However, according to Mr. Tran Quang Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Information Security, deepfake in particular or new technology in general is just a supporting tool for online fraud. In each period, bad guys will use different technologies. If there is no root cause and no drastic measures, this will become a long-term battle.

The reality is that most online scams target finances. According to Mr. Hung, to carry out the scam, the scammer needs a bank account for the victim to transfer money to. In many recent scams, even though the victim knows the phone number and the account to which the money is sent, it is still difficult to track down the person behind it because most of them use fake information, including junk SIM cards and junk bank accounts.

“Online fraud is still prevalent due to non-owner bank accounts,” Mr. Hung assessed.

Mr. Tran Quang Hung, Deputy Director of Information Security Department - Ministry of Information and Communications. Photo: MIC

Currently on the black market, unregistered bank accounts, also known as junk accounts, can be bought for 2-3 million VND. These can be accounts registered by users but not used and resold, or accounts registered by organizations that hire gullible people to register on their behalf. Fraudsters are willing to pay this amount because each victim can bring them much more money.

Therefore, to handle online fraud, the Information Security Department believes that coordination with parties such as the State Bank and the Ministry of Public Security is needed to resolve the issue of unregistered bank accounts. Synchronizing national population data, standardizing subscriber information, and the newly issued decree on personal data protection will be the legal basis for handling this type of account.

“If we can solve the problem of unregistered bank accounts, online fraud can be reduced by 80-90%,” Mr. Hung said.

A person is on the phone. Photo: Luu Quy

However, according to an expert in the field of cyber security, junk SIM cards also play an equally important role because most bank accounts are associated with a certain phone number.

“To use Internet Banking, account holders must register with a phone number. Thus, without a junk SIM card, money transfers will have to be done manually and will be much more difficult,” he assessed, saying that there needs to be synchronous participation from relevant agencies, instead of just those managing SIM cards or bank accounts.

Meanwhile, the Telecommunications Department also said it is taking measures to prevent fraud from text messages and calls, including eliminating junk SIM cards and SIM cards without owners' names.

This includes three steps, two of which are almost complete, including requiring subscribers to have information and the information must be standardized. In the coming time, the Ministry of Information and Communications will coordinate with the Departments of Information and Communications to inspect people who register multiple SIM cards, handle sources of spam messages and calls, and handle fake broadcasting stations.

According to VNE

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/thiet-bi-so/lua-dao-qua-mang-kho-dep-vi-tai-khoan-ngan-hang-rac/248111.htm