Manipulating victims' psychology over the phone to defraud and appropriate property

Editor's note:

Targeting the elderly for psychological manipulation

At around 10:00 a.m. on a day in early 2023, Ms. PTH, from Cam Thuy village, Cam Linh commune, Ba Vi, Hanoi, received a call from a stranger saying that she was involved in a transnational drug trafficking case and asked her not to disclose this information to anyone. After that, this person asked Ms. H to go to the bank to deposit money to get bail. Too scared and panicked, Ms. H asked her husband to take her to the bank to transfer money to the scammer.

Ms. PTH, Cam Thuy village, Cam Linh commune, Ba Vi, Hanoi, recounted being scammed by a subject impersonating a police officer.

Mr. NQM, Mrs. H’s husband, recounted: “After receiving the call from the scammers, my wife was like a lost soul and asked me to take her to the bank to transfer money. My wife sat on the back of the motorbike as if hypnotized, following all the scammers’ instructions. When we arrived at the bank, my wife told me to stand outside so she could go in alone. When they saw my wife acting strangely, the bank staff questioned her and informed the leader of Agribank Ba Vi branch to meet the customer directly.”

The bank later explained to Ms. H and her husband that she might be receiving calls from scammers and needed to report the incident to the police.

“I also heard about the scams of these subjects on the news, but I don’t understand why at that time I followed whatever they said. If it weren’t for the vigilance of the bank staff and the support of the police, our family would have lost 1.1 billion VND – the money we saved all our lives from raising cows and pigs,” said Ms. H.

Similar to Ms. H's case, on the afternoon of June 21, 2023, Ms. PTN, Yen Ky village, Phu Son commune, Ba Vi, Hanoi received a call from a subject claiming to be a police officer, informing her that she had violated the law. In order to avoid having her assets sealed and being detained, she had to open a money transfer account to serve the investigation.

Faced with the scammer’s threats, Ms. N followed the instructions and went to Agribank Ba Vi branch to withdraw all of her savings of 260 million VND, even though the withdrawal deadline had not yet come. Seeing the strange behavior, the bank staff explained, advised and successfully stopped the customer’s money transfer, and at the same time informed the police to handle this case.

Mr. Le Van Long, Director of Agribank Ba Vi branch, said that in the face of fraudulent tricks of bad actors on the internet, the bank has also raised its vigilance to ensure customers' assets. "When we discovered customers showing strange signs, we asked, encouraged, and at the same time reported to Ba Vi district police for timely handling," said Mr. Long.

Cybercrime is on the rise

Talking about cybercrime, Colonel Kieu Quang Phuong, Chief of Ba Vi District Police, said that the behavior of the scammers is extremely sophisticated. They set up servers abroad and collude with foreigners from China, Cambodia, and Africa to scam people.

“ In the past, there have been 28 scams reported by people, but this is just the tip of the iceberg, because many people think that the money is gone but are too ashamed to report it to the police. There are cases where the victim is an old man who has saved nearly 1 billion VND in his life and was scammed out of everything. Or there is a subject who scams women on social networks, saying that he sent 500 million VND but had to pay a fee of 50 million VND to receive the money, then the scammer disappears. There was even a scammer who called me claiming to be a police officer to threaten me. After that, I said I was a police officer, then this subject cursed and hung up, ” Colonel Kieu Quang Phuong shared.

Colonel Kieu Quang Phuong, Chief of Ba Vi District Police, said that the scammers' behavior was extremely sophisticated. They set up servers abroad and colluded with foreigners from China, Cambodia, and Africa to scam people.

Sharing with VietNamNet reporters about preventing crimes in cyberspace, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Head of Ba Vi District Police, said that the subjects used social networks to connect to send gifts, then impersonated the post office , customs to demand money to receive the gifts. The subjects even impersonated the police, the prosecutor's office, the court to make phone calls to threaten people and demand money transfers, then appropriated it. The bad guys also took control of social network accounts, then texted to trick people into borrowing money; set up fake websites to trick people into getting OTP codes and appropriate money in bank accounts. Most recently, the trick was to call to inform relatives and students who had accidents and needed money for emergency care.

In response to this issue, the district police have directed the implementation of measures to prevent cybercrime, such as increasing propaganda to the people of the communes about the tricks of scammers. Because scammers often target women and the elderly with economic conditions, the Ba Vi district police have worked with the district Women's Union to propagate the tricks of scams, and at the same time mobilized the commune police force to directly propagate and raise the vigilance of the elderly.

“ We have placed 30 warning signs at bank counters and public places to warn people about the scams of cyber criminals. In addition, the district police have also worked with banks to protect customers in a timely manner. When detecting abnormal psychological signs of the person transferring money, it is necessary to contact the district police to take measures to prevent and ensure the property of the people. The district police have also provided a hotline number so that people can report to the police when they suspect they may have been scammed, ” said Mr. Tuan.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung, Chief of Chu Minh Commune Police, Ba Vi, said that after the Covid-19 pandemic, cybercrime has increased rapidly. According to the people in Chu Minh Commune, many subjects impersonated police and courts to call and inform that the victims were involved in a drug trafficking ring. Then, they asked people to go to the bank to transfer money for bail. When the victims went to the bank to transfer money, the scammers asked them to lie to the bank staff that they were transferring money to their children to build a house.

In addition, cyber criminals also use tricks to trick people into downloading apps to make money online. Initially, they pay fair commissions, but when the victims deposit a larger amount, these subjects disappear.

“ Through investigation, it is very difficult for us to verify these scammers because they use virtual accounts, junk SIM cards, and unregistered bank cards to commit crimes. Because criminals use technology to transact in cyberspace, if we can handle the issue of registered SIM cards, we will certainly reduce many similar scams. In addition, banks also need to have a quick coordination mechanism to block accounts that scammers use to appropriate assets, ” said Mr. Hung.

Many cases were reported by the people to Ba Vi District Police, but the investigation of these subjects encountered difficulties, when the cooperation in providing information between banks and mobile network operators was prolonged, greatly affecting the case solving work. Even when Ba Vi District Police sent a document requesting the investigation of fraudsters via Zalo, the parent company, VNG, did not cooperate.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Anh Tuan, Deputy Chief of Ba Vi District Police, when people are scammed and their property is appropriated on the internet, the investigation and handling of the case is very difficult because the transaction accounts on social networks are virtual accounts, even the subjects are abroad. Therefore, preventive measures are still fundamental to protect people's property.

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