Scams through SIM upgrade support have flourished recently. A representative of VinaPhone network operator said that in the past time, high-tech scams have increased sharply with sophisticated tricks, in which there has been a situation where fraudsters have appropriated control of mobile subscribers’ SIMs. Steal OTP code information, then withdraw money from customer’s credit card or borrow money online. This carrier recommends that mobile users be wary of calls and messages from unknown numbers with content such as requests for assistance with SIM replacement/SIM upgrade or winning announcements. When there are phenomena like above, customers access the official websites and information channels of the network operator to authenticate or contact the customer service center for answers. When the phone SIM has abnormal signs such as signal loss, disabled for unknown reasons, many strange phone numbers calling in the same time period, etc., customers urgently contact the network operator to check the status of the subscriber and get advice, answers or recommendations on how to handle it. In case the subscriber receives a notice of unusual transactions such as transactions related to credit cards, related online credit loans, customers should immediately contact the banks and financial institutions where the card is issued. Credit card, where the online credit transaction occurs, request emergency card locking support to prevent fraudsters from appropriating assets or clarifying that online credit transaction. In addition, the network operator recommends that users do not access the links attached to the content of strange messages; do not perform operations on the phone according to the syntax instructed by strangers. When there is a need to change / change a new SIM, go directly to the transaction points or the official agent of the carrier to do it. VinaPhone said that it has added surveillance cameras at transaction points to prevent bad behavior and widely communicated on internal channels as well as mass media for customers to capture information and be vigilant. against scams. Previously, the authorities also warned about fraud to appropriate the right to use the sim and then borrow money online. Many cases after upgrading the sim suddenly become a debtor of several million to several tens of millions of dong.

Illustration. According to Hai Duong Police, recently, many mobile subscribers have received messages impersonating financial institutions and banks, sending fake and fraudulent content in order to appropriate people’s money. Through verification and evaluation, the authorities found that these fake messages did not come from the systems of financial institutions, banks and telecommunications businesses, but were distributed through transmitters. fake mobile signal. These are devices of foreign origin, which are illegally traded and used by objects for the purpose of carrying out attacks to spread spam messages to deceive users, especially users in remote areas. urban area. Fraudsters often use fake broadcast devices to send spam messages directly to the phone without going through the mobile telecommunications network. These messages are sent by objects that change source information in order to create trust and deceive users. The message content is often advertising, instructions or contains links to fake websites like official websites of financial institutions, banks to lure and steal users’ information such as accounts, password, OTP code. Many users do not recognize the fake website, so they provide personal information to access the bank account such as entering the account name and password. After the user provides the information, the fake website will redirect to another website or notify the user to wait. The subject uses the user’s personal information to log in to the official website of financial institutions and banks to get the OTP authentication code (if necessary).

Many security experts warned WhatsApp users not to click on the pink settings link for WhatsApp called WhatsappPink. Many security experts including Mr. Rajesh Rajaharia have voiced a warning about a virus hidden in a fake pink update link for WhatsApp called WhatsappPink. Once a user clicks on the WhatsappPink link, the virus will help hackers break in, take all access to WhatsApp in particular as well as their phones in general. The ultimate goal of a hacker is to steal victims’ personal information and bank passwords. According to Mr. Rajaharia, if a user has clicked on the fake pink update link for WhatsApp and lost access to their account or suspected something unusual happened to their account, they should immediately take action. like uninstall WhatsappPink immediately; uninstall all WhatsApp web services; clear browser cache from settings; double-check access to all applications on your phone; If you suspect losing access to any application try to get it back immediately. Warning about WhatsappPink by security expert Rajesh Rajaharia Experts also warn users to follow the basics and never install other mobile apps than those available on the official Google or Apple app store. For its part, WhatsApp has also warned users through media reports that: “Anyone can receive an unusual or suspicious message through any service, including email, private messages, and so on. text the phone and we strongly encourage everyone to be cautious before answering or participating. WhatsApp also suggests users send them a report about malicious links similar to WhatsappPink if they received it.

Send a petition to Ho Chi Minh City Women’s Newspaper, Ms. TBC – in Thu Dau Mot city, Binh Duong province – said that she had just been stolen by an object, appropriated more than 58 million dong in credit card. Ms. C. said, on March 2, she saw the phone displaying a message “unable to call”. The next day, she went to VNPT Binh Duong Business Center to check and rebuild a new sim, but the staff said that the sim card was not damaged, it was still working in two directions; “Cannot call” may be caused by phone malfunction. A fake message on the network operator calling for users to upgrade to a 4G sim. Phone subscribers need to be very wary of this kind of message – Photo: Provided by Competition and Consumer Protection Department On March 4, she asked to renew a new sim and a new one to work properly (listen, call). On March 12, when she accidentally read an article about the theft of money from her credit card, she immediately logged into her Fe Credit credit card account to check, and discovered that the money in the account was completely withdrawn in the form of purchase payment. Suspecting that her sim information was leaked during the sim remake process, Ms. H. came to complain at VNPT Binh Duong Business Center, just learned on March 2, there was a transaction to replace her sim card in Ho Chi Minh City. “I live in Binh Duong, have never made a transaction to replace my sim card in Ho Chi Minh City. VNPT Binh Duong Business Center also confirmed to only perform one SIM replacement transaction in Binh Duong. Thus, there is a fraudster who falsified my papers to perform a sim replacement transaction in Ho Chi Minh City and then appropriated property “- Ms. C. said. Not long ago, Dang Thanh Hai – in Ho Chi Minh City, the owner of a Viettel subscriber – suddenly blocked his mobile phone number, then was withdrawn 30 million dong from his bank account. Mr. Vu Minh Nhat – in Hanoi, the owner of a Mobifone subscriber – also had his sim stolen and then hacked into his bank account, losing 74.8 million dong via online payment. In the above two cases, the fraudster used a notarized copy of the identity card (ID card), went to the phone store (also the agent of the network operator) to register the procedure. In the case of Mr. Hai, the employee does not compare the copy of ID card with the original ID card; In the case of Nhat, the staff did not see the original ID card, nor did they require the latest contacts to verify. Recently, Thanh Hoa City Police, Thanh Hoa Province prosecuted seven subjects for counterfeiting ID cards according to customer information and then pasted their photos, to transaction points of network operators such as Viettel, Vinaphone to report the loss of their sim cards. suggest to redo the sim with the old number After being granted phone numbers from the carriers, the subjects used fake IDs and stolen phone numbers to make unsecured loan contracts from Fe Credit with loans from 20-70 million VND, appropriating a total of 500 million dong. The network operator can not be indifferent In the case of Ms. TBC, the representative of Vinaphone’s mobile phone network admitted, Vinaphone staff made a mistake in the process. Rather, in order to be reissued (in case of no sim), the subscriber must present his ID card, fill out an application form to reissue the sim, provide five outgoing and five dialed phone numbers. come. But the transaction staff in Ho Chi Minh City did not ask the replacement sim (the fraudster) to present ID card, just provide five phone numbers to call out and call. As a result, the fraudster easily obtained the sim of Mrs. C. and then appropriated more than 58 million dong in the credit card. Why does the fraudster know the five dialed and dialed numbers of the sim owner? According to Mr. Vo Do Thang – Director of Athens International Security and Network Management Training Center – the crook can use many of his own sims to phone, send text messages to the subscriber owner to call back and easily get the list. these calls. The situation of sim theft is happening more and more, but the network operators have not changed the sim re-issuance process as well as require transaction staff to be more cautious in re-issuing the sim, in order to ensure safety for customers. According to Mr. Vo Do Thang, the easy re-issuance of sim cards has created a gap for the fraudster who steals the sim. Employees often check for passport or not check, while counterfeiting ID is not difficult; Furthermore, they also have no inspection skills so it is difficult to detect tampering. “If the network operator takes one more step, such as issuing a password when issuing the sim for the first time, there is a secret question that only the subscriber knows, using artificial intelligence to detect the sim owner’s face … Having forged papers, it is not possible to steal the sim card ”- Mr. Vo Do Thang proposed. The representative of Vinaphone added that this company had collected information related to the theft of Ms. C.’s sim and transferred it to the police station to assist the victim. According to FeCredit Finance Company, because Mrs. C. was not at fault in this case, she is not responsible for the lost credit card amount. Why do I lose money in credit card when I lose my sim card? Most of the victims in the sim lost cases are stolen money by fraudsters by making online payments. Three factors are required to pay for online purchases: First, a mobile phone number – the credit card holder must register this number with the bank to authenticate transactions and receive bank notices. Second is the card number (the serial number printed on the front of the credit card). Third is the OTP authentication code (one-time password) sent via registered phone number with the bank. According to Mr. Vo Do Thang, the victim’s credit card number has been stolen by the fraud before, the sim theft is just the last step to steal money. After the sim is stolen, the fraudster will take the victim’s credit card number to pay online, then use the sim to receive the OTP code. Therefore, not everyone who loses their sim card will lose money in their credit card, in their bank account, only when they have revealed their credit card or account information before that the fraudster can steal the money. The victim’s credit card information may be exposed during previous online transactions by entering fraudulent websites, being infected with malicious code on the phone to steal card information or possibly due to The credit institution does not guarantee security. According to Mr. Vo Do Thang, criminals just need to steal credit card information, steal sim cards, and get OTP codes to steal money in the victim’s account shows that it is a great risk. Online payment processes of most credit institutions are still lax. “In this situation, the most important card users need to closely protect their card and account information, to avoid providing it to strangers. Absolutely do not visit strange websites or open attachments that are sent to unknown origin to avoid being installed with malicious code. Should be equipped with anti-virus software, anti-software with self-copy function (Trojan), keyboard manipulation monitoring programs (Keylogger), equipped with firewall protection … (According to Women HCMC)

Today (April 15), the People’s Court of Ba Ria – Vung Tau province brought the case of “fraudulent appropriation of property” occurred at Sao Vang Investment Joint Stock Company (referred to as Sao Vang company for short, address number 257). Ba Cu, Ward 4, Vung Tau City) to trial. This is a fraud case with the amount of hundreds of billion dong.

In court, the defendant Pham Thi Thu Ha (SN 1983, hometown of Ha Tinh, residing in Vung Tau City) was prosecuted by VKSND of the same level for fraudulent appropriation of property.

Concerning this case, the mastermind – defendant Huynh Thi Ngan Trang (SN 1983, resident of Xuan Loc district, Dong Nai province) has fled and is being wanted.

Defendant Pham Thi Thu Ha at the trial this morning (April 15). Photo: Quang Hung

From the early morning, hundreds of people who were the victims, who were involved in the case have been in court, crowded in the hall and the railing outside the courtroom.

Some victims also brought law books to prepare for the argument in court.

However, after the examination of the composition of the court, the Panel decided to postpone the trial for the reasons: many victims are absent, the person with related obligations and the victim requested the postponement … , delay after more than 1 month, will be reopened.

According to the list announced by the secretary, this trial the court summoned more than 144 victims and more than 400 people with related obligations. However, only more than 100 victims were present and more than 134 persons with related rights and obligations participated.

After the decision to postpone the trial, many defendants petitioned to send the People’s Court to return the files to further investigate the case, they said that the procedural agency had “overlooked” the crime, many related issues in the case. the judgment has not been satisfactorily resolved …

Appropriated nearly 224 billion dong of 433 customers

According to the case file, from 2012 to June 2017, Huynh Thi Ngan Trang – Chairman of Sao Vang and Pham Thi Thu Ha – held the positions: Director, Deputy General Director, The treasurer of Sao Vang Company deceived 433 customers to steal nearly 224 billion dong.

Trang and Ha confessed that during the above period, Sao Vang company invested in projects, bought shares at a loss, had no revenue, but both still maintained to pay profits to customers, taking money from the customer pays the customer, the latter pays the first.

Hundreds of people were harmed, who were on duty involved in court early in the morning. Photo: Quang Hung

Many participants in court leave the courtroom after the decision to postpone. Photo: Quang Hung

In December 2016, Sao Vang Company terminated the investment activities of projects, but continued to mobilize capital from customers for investment cooperation. By June 2017, although Sao Vang Company could not afford to pay, Trang continued to deceive customers through the service staff, customer department to appeal and entice customers by offer a profit rate of 22-30% for them to deposit money into the company and then appropriate a portion of paying for previous customers.

In order to carry out the above behavior, Trang and Ha have made false documents on the charter capital contribution of member companies in cash; taking advantage of the position of General Director, concurrently Chairman of the Board of Directors, Trang instructs employees to spend money for the “virtual” project investment page, no revenue.

After that, Trang pays a certain amount of money to maintain the cash fund of Sao Vang, to ensure the payment of principal and profit for customers, pay commissions for employees and operating expenses. …

With the above deceitful tricks, Trang fraudulently appropriated the money of 433 customers with the amount of more than VND 223 billion. Specifically, Sao Vang original amount has not yet paid to these customers is more than 407 billion VND; the amount of profit paid is more than 174 billion dong; the amount of commissions for employees is over 9 billion.

For Pham Thi Thu Ha’s behavior, the investigation and police determined that between 2010 and 2016, Ha was a shareholder, holding important positions in the company, playing a role in helping for phishing page with the above tricks.

From 2015 to 2016, Ha helped Trang directly sign 70 investment cooperation contracts and 7 maturity contracts with 67 customers, and signed annexes of investment cooperation contracts with fixed profit agreements. Payable to customers 27.6% / year, expected profit from 15-36% / year, with commitment to pay profit in advance to customers, regardless of business results.

Consequently, 67 customers trusted and were “trapped” to pay Sao Vang, with the appropriated amount of nearly 24 billion VND.

The defendants petitioned for the return of additional investigation files because they believed that the case “omitted the crime”. Someone brought law books to court to prepare for the argument. Photo: Quang Hung

At the investigation agency, Trang confessed all the criminal acts committed by Trang. Ba Ria – Vung Tau Provincial Police CSDT has prosecuted the defendant, applied measures to prevent leaving the residence, delayed exit for Trang due to her pregnancy, child nursing under 36 months old.

However, on March 26, 2020, Trang fled the locality, so the investigating agency issued a pursuit decision, suspended the investigation for the accused and decided to separate the criminal case for criminal acts. Trang’s defendant, after being caught, will be handled later.

At the same time, the police agency ordered distraint, suspend transactions for assets such as land use rights, shares related to Trang and Sao Vang company.

Defendant Ha confessed his crime, but said that everything was directed by Trang, did not intentionally commit fraud to appropriate property with Trang.

However, with documents and evidence gathered together with testimony during the settlement of the case, the police agency determined that Ha was an accomplice with Trang on the crime of appropriating property.

In this case, the investigation agency also worked with 13 shareholders of Sao Vang company and identified some shareholders who did not participate in the company’s operations, did not know Trang and Ha committed criminal acts. insufficient grounds to consider criminal liability.
Meanwhile, some other shareholders denied the responsibility and role related to the defendant’s criminal acts, so when the Trang is arrested, the investigation agency will continue to consider and handle.