Impersonating police on social networks to commit fraud is on the rise.

Recently, social networks have seen many fake accounts impersonating the Ministry of Public Security , a unit under the Ministry of Public Security, to scam people. Despite repeated warnings from authorities, many people are still "trapped" by this scam.

Impersonating the cybercrime prevention force

Recently, Tay Ho District Police received a complaint from Ms. T (born in 1947) about being scammed and having her property stolen. According to the complaint, Ms. T received a phone call from a person claiming to be a police officer of Hoan Kiem District, saying that she owed the bank 63 billion VND. Then, the person asked her to transfer money to the person's account for verification. Out of fear, Ms. T transferred money 6 times with a total amount of nearly 18 billion VND to the person. After that, Ms. P realized she had been scammed, so she reported it to the police.

In the warning notices from the Information Security Department, the scammers impersonate police officers, police cadets, etc. to help get fraudulent information. On social networks, the fake account "Department of receiving and handling documents - under the Ministry of Public Security" is still broadcasting clips with edited content and images that are fake from a report of People's Security Television - ANTV, in order to continue to defraud victims who have been scammed through the method of authorities supporting the recovery of money. To create trust and increase persuasiveness, the group of scammers also posted information that nearly 70,000 complaints had been sent for support.

Impersonating the Cyber Security Department of the Ministry of Public Security, the leading unit in preventing cybercrime, to commit fraud.

Expert Vu Ngoc Son, Technical Director of Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Joint Stock Company (NCS), commented: The general principle of fraudulent information or "fake news" is that it will be based on certain stories or events that have happened, adding information that is leading and directional in order to deceive or cause confusion.

“This impersonation scam clip is based on a recent case in which Hanoi police cracked down on a case and posted a notice asking victims to contact the police to resolve the matter. Based on this information, the subjects took images from Vietnam Television but used a text-to-speech tool to insert fake content to defraud and profit,” said Mr. Vu Ngoc Son.

What is worrying is that accounts impersonating the Ministry of Public Security and its agencies and units such as the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention - A05, the Ministry of Public Security's electronic information portal to commit fraud are quite common. The subjects even wear police uniforms to increase persuasiveness and buy advertisements so that fake information can reach many social network users in Vietnam.

The Department of Information Security (Ministry of Information and Communications) and A05 of the Ministry of Public Security have repeatedly warned about the tricks of creating websites and social network accounts impersonating authorities to defraud people of their money. Recently, the Ministry of Public Security has issued a warning about the Ministry's electronic information portal being impersonated by scammers. This agency also recommends that people be cautious when using unofficial information sources impersonating the Ministry of Public Security; absolutely do not listen to or contact websites, fanpages, social network accounts advertising services of "receiving documents", "support to recover suspended money", "recovering fraudulent money"...

Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang, Deputy Minister of Public Security, Chairman of the National Cyber Security Association, pointed out: Activities that take advantage of cyberspace to commit crimes, especially online fraud, are increasing in scope and scale with sophisticated tricks. The subjects thoroughly take advantage of the latest technology, artificial intelligence (AI), causing losses of trillions of USD each year globally.

Continuously changing methods and new technologies

In Vietnam, last year, domestic and foreign cybercriminals continuously changed their methods and tricks, thoroughly taking advantage of new technology to attack, infiltrate, and commit large-scale fraud, causing great economic damage and negatively affecting social order and safety, threatening people's lives.

According to Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang, the methods and tricks of the scammers are very sophisticated, using deepfake technology to impersonate relatives or authorities to call; calling for investment through foreign exchange, virtual currency, and stock exchanges. The subjects that online scammers target are mainly the elderly, students, workers with unstable jobs, low income, and even children.

“These are people who use smartphones and have the conditions to participate in the online environment, but their ability to recognize signs and fraudulent behaviors is still low, making it easy for their gullibility and greed to be taken advantage of to commit fraud,” said Senior Lieutenant General Luong Tam Quang.

Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia, Deputy Head of Department 5, Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05 - Ministry of Public Security) said that currently, every day and every hour, scammers are continuously researching to integrate and develop new scam tricks, making it difficult for people to identify and prevent scams.

Referring to the form of fraud impersonating authorities, Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia assessed that this method has been 'popular' since the beginning of 2024 until now. Along with analyzing the reasons leading to the situation of subjects publicly impersonating authorities, the representative of Room 5 of A05 also said that the Cyber Security Department is coordinating with the Information Security Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications to scan social network accounts impersonating authorities, not only the Ministry of Public Security, the Cyber Security Department, but also law offices and other State agencies.

To deal with online fraud, including impersonation fraud, experts from the Department of Information Security recommend that it is important that people absolutely do not provide personal information to anyone through any form, because information disclosure will lead to many worrying consequences. When receiving strange calls or contacting groups providing services on social networks, people should not transfer money to the subject without first researching and verifying their identity. In particular, those who have been financially scammed need to be careful with websites and social network groups that constantly run advertisements and offer support services to recover lost money.

Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia, Deputy Head of Department 5, Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (A05 - Ministry of Public Security), commented that recently, the situation of fraud and appropriation of assets in cyberspace has been extremely complicated with many methods and tricks.

The Ministry of Public Security has coordinated with the Ministry of Information and Communications to develop plans and scenarios to warn people. Specifically, it has compiled 24 common forms of fraud in Vietnam's cyberspace, widely disseminated from the end of 2023 to present, to help people identify and know how to prevent online fraud.

However, up to now, from 24 common online fraud methods and tricks, subjects are continuing to research every day and every hour to integrate and develop new fraud tricks, making it difficult for people to identify and prevent.

Affirming that propaganda and raising awareness and knowledge for people are the most important factors and measures to solve online fraud, Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia said that recently, A05 has built a fanpage of the Department named 'Department of Cyber Security and Prevention of High-Tech Crimes'.

“Through social networking platforms, the Cyber Security Department will daily educate people about fraud methods and tricks, and coordinate with relevant media units to develop content scenarios, with the goal of disseminating knowledge on how to prevent fraud crimes in an easy-to-understand and effective way,” Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia shared.

In parallel, the National Cyber Security Association is working with businesses to build anti-fraud software for people. In addition to providing tools to help people detect signs of fraud in cyberspace, this software also helps people identify fraudsters, contributing to raising awareness and skills of cyber safety and security for people.

“It is expected that the software will soon be put on app stores so that people can download and install it on smart devices. By integrating data on fraud prevention from relevant ministries and branches, including the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information and Communications and the State Bank, the application will inform users with knowledge to help identify forms of fraud, risks of fraud and online attacks in cyberspace,” Lieutenant Colonel Vu Trong Nghia informed.

According to VNA/Tin Tuc Newspaper

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