Original SIM card but still occupied by others Ms. ATH (in Binh Duong) reflected on 2-3 days, she discovered that her phone displayed a message that could not be called, so she went to VNPT Binh Duong Business Center to ask for a check. Here, the technical staff said that the SIM card is not damaged, still works two-way. On March 4, she went to the center to ask for a new SIM card. After that, the phone works normally. On March 12, Ms. H. logged into her credit card account to check and found that the money in the account had been withdrawn in the form of payment for purchases. Suspecting that her SIM information was exposed during the SIM rework, Ms. H. went to VNPT Binh Duong Business Center to find out. Only now did she know that on 2-3 days there was a transaction to replace her SIM at a VNPT center in Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. H. said that this SIM phone number has been registered by her owner before. Now suddenly my SIM was declared and appropriated by someone else, leading to the loss of her credit card more than 58 million dong. “During the settlement process, the representative of VNPT HCMC (where the SIM exchange happened) said he would support me with a scratch card worth 2 million VND, but I did not accept it. The main reason for losing money is because the network operator re-issued the SIM in the wrong process, not because of me, “- Ms. H. shared. Ms. ATH was upset because someone else took control of her phone SIM, so her credit account lost more than 58 million dong. Photo: DANG LE Another case is Mr. Trieu Duc Khai (in Thai Binh) also said on April 21, he made a complaint to VNPT Center in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh. The content of the complaint about his VinaPhone SIM, although registered by the owner, was still controlled by others, leading to the loss of 35 million VND in his credit card. Through working with VNPT in Thai Thuy district, it was determined that someone had impersonated him to carry out the procedure to lose the SIM and make a new SIM with the subscriber number that Mr. Khai was using. This person only declared five phone numbers to call out, come to the nearest, and then be given a new SIM. Occupying SIM is a trick to appropriate money Exchange with Ho Chi Minh City Law Vo Do Thang, Director of Athena International Security and Network Administration Training Center, said that through the two cases above, it shows that if anyone reports the loss of SIM and only needs to provide five phone numbers to call. going, calling recently, committing to subscriber owner rights to be re-issued with a new SIM is not good at all. This has created a loophole for crooks to steal other people’s SIMs, to the detriment of genuine SIM users. According to Mr. Thang, most of the victims in the SIM loss cases were taken by fraudsters by making online payments. To pay for online purchases, there are three factors: The first is a mobile phone number. The credit card holder must register this phone number with the bank to authenticate transactions and receive bank notifications. The second is the card number (a series of numbers printed on the front of the credit card). The third is the OTP (one-time password) verification code sent to the phone number registered with the bank. In the working minutes and written responses to Ms. H. and Mr. Khai, the network operator confirmed that re-issuing SIM cards to others was not in accordance with the process. Photo: DANG LE. After hijacking the right to use the SIM, the crooks will take the victim’s credit card number to pay online, then use the newly issued SIM to receive the OTP code and complete the payment. The victim’s credit card number has been stolen by the crooks before, appropriating the phone SIM is only the last step to perform the act of appropriating money. According to Mr. Thang, not everyone who loses their phone SIM will lose money in their credit cards and bank accounts. Only when they have had their credit card or account information exposed before can crooks steal money. The victim’s credit card information may be exposed during previous online transactions. The cause is usually because the victim has filled out information on fraudulent websites, installed malicious code on the phone to steal card information, opened attachments of unknown origin or it can also be due to credit institutions. does not guarantee safety in terms of security,” Thang shared. In the working minutes and written responses to Ms. H. and Mr. Khai, the network operator confirmed that re-issuing SIM cards to others was not in accordance with the process. Photo: DANG LE The network operator did the wrong process In both cases mentioned above, in the process of working with customers, the operator has confirmed that the teller when carrying out the SIM reissuance procedure only requires the customer to provide five outgoing and incoming phone numbers. subscriber ownership is not the correct procedure. In response to the recent complaint of VNPT Center in Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province against Mr. Trieu Duc Khai, it is clear that because of this unfortunate incident, VNPT Center of Thai Thuy district has apologized to customers. The material damage that the impostor causes to the customer, the center will fix and compensate for the loss. As for the case of Ms. ATH, VNPT HCMC said that it will accompany the customer to provide necessary information to serve the investigation agency.

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)