Individuals and charitable organizations should coordinate with local authorities to organize gift giving to people. In photo: Hue City Police give support gifts through Dan Dien Commune authorities. Photo: Provided by Hue City Police

Legitimate charitable activities are conducted through the government.

On November 11, in Dan Dien commune, a group of strangers appeared, pretending to be a charity group, to give gifts to people affected by floods in two households in Bao La village, Duc Nhuan. These subjects asked the people to inform 15 other women in the area to gather to receive charity gifts. However, when they saw the women coming with many men in the family, the group immediately pretended to be impatient because they had not seen the relief goods arrive, so they made an excuse to go check and quickly escaped.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tien, Chairman of the People's Committee of Dan Dien Commune, said that he had grasped the information about the above incident. The locality will continue to promote propaganda on Zalo groups in each residential area; focusing on advising people to raise their vigilance and not let criminals take advantage of the name of charity to commit crimes. All legal charity activities are organized through local authorities to give gifts to each household, so when detecting any suspicion, it is necessary to quickly report to the authorities and local authorities for clarification.

“We also encourage and promote charity groups to connect or notify local authorities when carrying out charity gift-giving activities in the area to ensure security and order, and avoid bad elements taking advantage of the situation to spread bad and toxic content,” Mr. Tien shared.

It is known that this is not the only case related to the situation of taking advantage of charity during the flood to carry out acts with signs of fraud recorded by Hue City Police recently. In Binh Dien commune, the police force recorded the appearance of a number of subjects from other provinces coming to give gifts of dishwashing liquid and laundry detergent of unknown origin and with signs of fraud. In Loc An commune, there has also been a situation of charity gifts of poor quality, expired or even embedded, spreading advertising content of websites, online betting applications, online gambling.

Subtle transformation

According to Hue City Police, the forms of fraud after natural disasters are still very "transformative". These include impersonating reputable organizations and individuals such as the Red Cross, state agencies, artists, etc. to call for donations, using personal accounts to receive money; sending text messages, calling to announce "receiving support after the storm", requesting to provide personal information, OTP codes, bank accounts or requesting access to strange links, requesting to download applications; impersonating delivery people, bank employees to request payment for orders or support fees to appropriate money...

The above forms of fraud can be easily detected through unusual signs such as: newly created calling fanpage, few followers, using logos, photos taken from other sources; account numbers do not match the organization name or are not published on official channels; messages, calls from unknown numbers, urgent content, requests to click links or provide personal information; calls without clear verification information, lack of transparency in the purpose and method of donation.

Hue City Police advise people to only donate and support through organizations and accounts officially announced by the authorities. At the same time, do not provide personal information, OTP codes, bank accounts to strangers via phone or social networks; do not access strange links, do not install applications from unknown sources. When receiving information about "support", people should verify directly with local authorities. At the same time, immediately report to the nearest police station if signs of fraud are detected.

Faced with the reality that Hue City was heavily affected by the historic flood, leading to complicated security and order situation, Colonel Ho Xuan Phuong, Deputy Director of Hue City Police, Head of the Investigation Police Agency (Hue City Police) also directed the police of units and localities to proactively grasp the situation, synchronously deploy professional measures; focus on preventing, detecting and effectively fighting all types of crimes, especially theft, fraud, and taking advantage of natural disasters to commit illegal activities.

On that basis, the police of communes and wards have increased their 24/7 standing forces, arranged closed patrols in the area and stepped up propaganda about forms of fraud, theft and crime that are likely to occur after natural disasters through direct and online forms on social networks and mass media so that people can grasp and understand the situation. Thereby, contributing to stabilizing the security and order situation in the city, creating conditions for people to feel secure in overcoming the consequences of natural disasters and soon stabilize their lives.

Article and photos: Minh Nguyen

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/chinh-tri-xa-hoi/phap-luat-cuoc-song/tu-thien-ao-va-nhung-chieu-lua-sau-mua-lu-159910.html