Junk SIM cards and scam calls are "besieging" people.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - Unregistered SIM cards continue to be the main tool for harassing calls and scams aimed at extorting money, causing public outrage.

Many users are being harassed by constantly receiving scam calls and sales pitches (Photo: The Anh).

Comprehensive review of bank accounts and phone SIM cards.

At the meeting of the Government Steering Committee on Science, Technology Development, Innovation and Digital Transformation, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assigned the Ministry of Public Security to coordinate with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State Bank of Vietnam and relevant agencies and businesses to implement a comprehensive campaign to review bank accounts and phone SIM cards to strengthen state management and prevent online fraud.

Currently, the country has nearly 183 million individual payment accounts and approximately 120 million mobile subscribers. This large number poses a significant challenge in controlling and verifying identification information and preventing fraud.

Scamming calls are still happening.

Viet Khoi, an office worker in Hanoi, said: "I use Facebook and accidentally clicked on an advertisement to buy an apartment. Immediately, and in the following days, I received many calls offering sales advice from the numbers starting with '024, 028'."

This has made me very uncomfortable and has affected my personal life."

It's not just offers to buy goods, apartments, or get credit cards. Many people also receive calls from impersonators and scammers.

Ms. Cam Tien (currently living and working in Ho Chi Minh City) shared with reporters: "I work in Ho Chi Minh City, and recently received a call from someone claiming to be an electricity company employee, asking me to pay my electricity and water bills back home. Because I had seen information about scams in the news, I knew it was a fraudulent call and hung up immediately."

Even reporters were constantly receiving silent calls from the number "02486865743"; all they had to do was pick up the phone and say "Hello!", and the callers would immediately hang up.

Despite numerous reports and warnings about scams involving impersonation calls, many people still fall victim to these tricks.

Recently, on May 15th, the Hanoi City Police announced that the investigative agency had received a report from a citizen regarding a fraud case involving the misappropriation of property.

According to authorities, on the afternoon of May 7th, Ms. L. (19 years old, a university student) received a phone call from someone claiming to be an officer from the Quang Ninh Provincial Police.

The scammer informed Ms. L. that she was involved in a money laundering and drug trafficking ring and demanded money to prove her innocence. Out of fear, Ms. L. followed the instructions and transferred a total of nearly 3 billion VND to the scammer.

Junk SIM cards: First and foremost, the responsibility lies with the network providers.

According to many telecommunications experts, unregistered SIM cards typically have a much higher volume of text messages and calls than regular SIM cards; some SIM cards send hundreds of text messages and make dozens of calls every day.

This means that unregistered SIM cards generate significant revenue for network operators. Therefore, the responsibility for unregistered SIM cards – one of the main means used in marketing calls, scam calls, and advertising messages – primarily rests with the network operators.

Although major network operators like Viettel, VNPT, and Vinaphone have implemented many measures, using spam message detection systems and reviewing suspected subscribers making spam calls for investigation and blocking, the problem of spam SIM cards and spam calls remains very common in practice.

Mr. Do Van Thinh, Director of CMC Cyber ​​Security Operations Center (CMC Cyber ​​Security Company, CMC Technology Group), said: "For calls that don't say anything, the main goal of these individuals is to confirm the status and classification of the data they have obtained."

When users receive unknown phone calls but remain silent, it's a way for criminals to filter user data, sell it, or devise suitable scam scenarios.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/sim-rac-cuoc-goi-lua-dao-bua-vay-nguoi-dan-20250521080419857.htm