The Ministry of Public Security recommends that people be vigilant against property fraud crimes.

According to Lieutenant General To An Xo - Chief of the Ministry's Office, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security, in addition to traditional fraud methods such as: Impersonating officials of state agencies, high-ranking leaders to trick people into applying for jobs, "buying positions", "buying cases", asking for projects, borrowing capital from foreign organizations and individuals; calling for investment and funding in companies, projects and programs; counterfeiting antiques, precious stones, metals, making and using fake papers and documents related to property ownership to pledge, mortgage, buy and sell to defraud and appropriate property; the subjects have taken advantage of cyberspace to commit fraud and appropriate property with sophisticated methods, diverse in approaches to victims, with many cases involving a large number of victims in many localities across the country with various tricks.

Typical examples include: Using social networks to make friends, announce gift sending, then impersonating airport, customs, tax staff... to request victims to pay transportation fees, taxes, fees, fines... into bank accounts designated by the subjects and then appropriating; Impersonating officials of State agencies, Police, Procuracy, Court to call to notify subscribers related to cases, cases being resolved, threatening, requesting victims to transfer money or exploiting the victims' bank account information, from there logging into the victims' accounts to transfer money into the subjects' bank accounts to appropriate.

Thanh Hoa police arrested a subject for fraud and property appropriation via social networks.

Faced with the complicated developments of the situation of property fraud crimes, the Ministry of Public Security has proactively grasped the situation and promptly advised the Prime Minister to issue Directive No. 21/CT-TTg dated May 25, 2020 on strengthening the prevention and handling of property fraud activities. In particular, the Ministry of Public Security, with its assigned functions and duties as the Standing Agency implementing the Directive, has issued many Plans to direct the Ministry's professional units and local police across the country to synchronously deploy professional measures, strengthen the prevention, suppression and handling of property fraud activities.

The leaders of the Ministry of Public Security assigned the Criminal Police Department to be the main, core unit, advising on the organization and implementation of many plans and measures to prevent and combat crimes of property fraud; promote the combined strength of the entire political system and gain the consensus, support and assistance of the people in movements to protect political security and social order and safety; improve the effectiveness of the work of grasping the situation, methods and tricks of activities of subjects and networks related to property fraud; focus on receiving and handling reports of crimes, focusing on detecting, investigating and strictly and thoroughly handling cases of property fraud, in order to deter and curb the increase of this type of crime.

In 2021, the Criminal Police force alone arrested and handled 1,691 cases of fraud and property appropriation (reaching a rate of 74.46%), handling 2,089 subjects. Typically: The Criminal Police Department broke up a project to fight a group of subjects who committed fraud and property appropriation by impersonating bank officials, operating in Hanoi and some localities, led by Le Tu Quang, born in 1993; Ha Tinh Police fought a project to destroy a network of fraud and property appropriation through the online recruitment of online sales collaborators; arrested and summoned 83 subjects, prosecuted 41 defendants...

Dong Thap police detained a suspect for fraud and property appropriation.

In the first quarter of 2022, the Criminal Police force arrested and handled 372 cases of property fraud (reaching a rate of 79.15%), handling 491 subjects. Typically: On December 15, 2021, Nghe An Police arrested Phan Van Tai, born in 1996, for property fraud; from June 2021 to present, the subject has used many social media accounts to post articles in charity groups and associations with content related to people in difficult circumstances, calling on people to transfer money to the subject's account to support the child, defrauding 1,617 victims of more than 200 million VND...

To prevent property fraud, the spokesman of the Ministry of Public Security recommends: people need to increase their knowledge of laws and policies, regularly monitor the announcements of criminal methods and tricks of the authorities on the media and mass media. Research and check carefully before making financial transactions, and be wary of investments that bring "high profits".

Lieutenant General To An Xo - Chief of Office, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Public Security.

Regarding the crime of fraud and appropriation of property on the internet, people are advised to be vigilant when receiving calls from landline numbers, the callers claiming to be officials of state agencies, especially the police force, to notify and request investigation of the case over the phone, do not provide personal information, phone number, home address... to any subject when not knowing clearly the identity and background of that person, especially do not listen to the subjects transferring money to the accounts designated by the subjects.

When shopping online, people need to carefully screen and check advertising and sales information about goods, seller's identity, choose reputable addresses, and transparent payment methods. Regularly check and update security and privacy features on social network accounts. Regularly change to ensure password security; do not share too much personal information on social networks. Do not lend or rent relevant personal documents such as: Citizen ID card, identity card, household registration book, bank card, do not accept bank transfers or receive money transfers from banks for strangers.

In case of suspicion of fraudulent appropriation of property, promptly notify the nearest police agency for reception and guidance on handling.