Fraudulent methods to steal personal data are becoming increasingly sophisticated.

Impersonating a People's Committee official to call people

Recently, Hanoi City Police said that on the morning of November 18, a new form of fraud appeared in Me Tri ward, Nam Tu Liem district.

Specifically, at the above time, a citizen in the ward received a phone call from a person who introduced himself as working at Nguyen Co Thach informing the citizen that the data was incorrect.

Initially, the caller invited citizens to Nguyen Co Thach street to edit data but then suggested remote instructions to scam them.

Previously, on November 17, Mr. T (Quynh Loi Ward, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi) also received a phone call with similar content. The caller identified himself as Ngo Trung Kien, an officer of the one-stop department of the People's Committee of Quynh Loi Ward.

This person named Ngo Trung Kien informed that Mr. T's population data was incorrect and requested that he go to the one-stop department of the ward People's Committee for correction.

Notably, personal information such as name, date of birth, and address were all very accurate, making Mr. T skeptical. Mr. T then directly contacted the People's Committee of Quynh Loi Ward, and was confirmed by the ward leader that at the one-stop department of the People's Committee of the ward, there was no one named Ngo Trung Kien.

The buying and selling of personal data is complicated.

According to the police, high-tech fraud has become more complex in recent times. Criminals use many sophisticated methods and tricks, with a tendency to intertwine and combine many different forms of fraud.

Therefore, the authorities recommend that organizations, individuals and businesses should be vigilant when receiving phone calls from strangers, claiming to be officials of state agencies and judicial agencies, conducting criminal proceedings, to notify and request investigation of cases by phone or impersonating bank, post office , insurance, inspection, customs staff... requesting to receive money, valuable postal gifts or pay fees, repay unspecified debts. Do not follow the requests and instructions of the above contact group over the phone.

When receiving phone calls with the above signs, people need to stay calm, not panic, quickly contact relatives and friends for advice. In case of suspicion of fraudulent property appropriation, immediately notify the nearest police station for instructions on how to handle the situation.

Many customers' personal information, including full names, phone numbers, emails, home addresses (even apartment codes, villas purchased at real estate projects)... are posted online. Photo: The Lam.

One of the reasons personal data can fall into the wrong hands is because data trading activities are becoming increasingly complex.

In a recent workshop on this issue, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Do Thi, Deputy Chief of Staff, Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention (Ministry of Public Security) shared that buying and selling personal data is quite common.

Some public websites or private groups are selling hundreds of groups of medical, educational, insurance, and banking data of Vietnamese citizens (including full basic information: Full name, date of birth, phone number, account number).

In the past two years alone, the police have arrested a number of large data trading cases, including groups in Ha Tinh and Phu Tho.

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