online fraud in Vietnamese and international cyberspace

During the week of September 9th to September 15th, the Cybersecurity Department issued warnings about the following online scams:

- Charity scams following Typhoon Yagi : Faced with the severe damage in the North, and in response to the call to join hands in supporting those affected by the natural disaster, many kind-hearted people across the country have readily offered their help. However, not a few individuals have taken advantage of this opportunity to profit.

These individuals use many images and information similar to legitimate websites to solicit donations, causing people to be misled and transfer money to them.

To avoid being scammed out of charitable funds, the Cybersecurity Department advises people to be vigilant, to research and verify information through official sources, and to report any pages or personal accounts showing signs of fraud to the authorities.

Warning: Online scams are occurring in Vietnam and internationally.

- Impersonating doctors and cosmetic surgery clinics to commit fraud: perpetrators create fake social media accounts impersonating reputable doctors, sharing health-related posts to attract attention and gain the trust of followers.

Not only did they use images of doctors, but the perpetrators also created fake certificates to increase their credibility. After gaining the trust of customers, they offered services at attractive prices, requested deposits, and then cut off all contact.

The Cybersecurity Department advises people to be cautious when choosing health-related services on social media, to check and verify information about medical facilities and doctors before using the service; and to only use official, licensed platforms with clear doctor identity verification systems.

- Online financial investment scams: Scammers create fake stock exchanges and cryptocurrency investment platforms, impersonating financial experts, securities professionals, or representatives of reputable brokerage firms. They then invite victims to join investment groups on Facebook, Telegram, Zalo, etc., and entice them to participate in the platforms they have created.

Enticed by promises of high returns and fabricated evidence of profits from previous participants, many people invested. After collecting a sum of money, the virtual trading platform would close down or disappear, leaving investors with lost funds.

The Cybersecurity Department advises people not to participate in investing or trading on cryptocurrency exchanges, websites, or applications, not to provide personal information, and not to download applications from unknown sources.

- Labor export scams: Individuals impersonate recruitment agencies through websites, providing forged documents. They organize seminars, promising good working conditions and high incomes. After workers are asked to pay a deposit to complete the procedures, the scammers embezzle the money.

The Cybersecurity Department advises employees to clarify and verify information about the company and the working environment; and not to pay any money before signing a contract.

- Google Voice users become targets of scams: Scammers contact accounts posting on social media about buying or selling products or services. They then send a Google Voice account verification code and ask the victim to provide their phone number and send the code back to verify authenticity. Next, the scammers use the shared code to create a Google Voice account linked to the victim's phone number.

Subsequently, the perpetrators gained control of the victim's phone number via Google Voice, thereby stealing the victim's assets.

The Cybersecurity Department advises people to be vigilant when using Google Voice, not to follow instructions from strangers, not to provide personal information, and to enhance security by enabling two-factor authentication.

- Impersonating Apple CEO to solicit investment: perpetrators use Deepfake technology to create videos impersonating the Apple CEO, soliciting investments with the aim of defrauding users of their funds.

These videos are posted on social media platforms, encouraging viewers to participate by sending money in the form of cryptocurrency. After receiving a certain amount of money, the perpetrator deletes all videos and related information.

Therefore, people need to be cautious about investment calls, need to verify the legality of projects, and should not follow instructions from strangers.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/canh-bao-lua-dao-truc-tuyen-tren-khong-gian-mang-viet-nam-va-quoc-te.html