Warning: Sophisticated tricks to defraud online sellers

(Baonghean.vn) - The subjects used hacked Facebook to buy goods, then pretended to transfer money first and then asked the seller to enter personal information and bank account into the fake link to steal money.

» Provincial police warn against fraud via telecommunications networks

» Arrested 2 subjects in a group of telecommunications fraudsters

On October 30, Nghe An Police issued a warning about a sophisticated form of fraud via Facebook on the Fanpage of the Criminal Police Department (PC45).

Accordingly, in recent days, Nghe An police have received reports from many people that a subject used Facebook to defraud and appropriate property through online buying and selling.

Specifically, on October 29, Ms. Nguyen Thi L. (residing in Thai Hoa Town) reported that a scammer had stolen nearly 20 million VND. According to Ms. L., on October 27, she received a message from a Facebook user offering to buy goods. This person said he was abroad and wanted to buy 6.5 million VND worth of goods from Ms. L. Thinking it was real, Ms. L. agreed. This person asked for Ms. L.'s account number and phone number to transfer money first.

The scammer created a fake phone number, similar to a foreign phone number, and then faked a money transfer notification. Photo provided by the police.

Just 1 minute later, Ms. L.'s phone notified her of a text message from a phone number +447329935130. The message stated that Ms. L.'s account had just been credited with 6.5 million VND from the Western Union money transfer service. Thinking it was a message from the bank, Ms. L. trusted it even more.

This “customer” continued to message Ms. L. via Facebook that, although she had transferred the money, in order to withdraw it, Ms. L. had to enter the information as requested on the link this person sent. Ms. L. did not hesitate, entering information about her name, phone number, ID card, account number, and account number password. To successfully complete the transaction, Ms. L. had to provide this customer with the OTP security code of the Internet banking service.

After taking over Ms. L.’s electronic bank account, the subject quickly withdrew nearly 20 million VND from Ms. L.’s account and transferred it to an electronic wallet. Although the withdrawal message was still sent to her phone, Ms. L. did not think that the money had been stolen.

According to Captain Pham Trung Hieu - Deputy Head of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Team, Criminal Police Department (PC45, Provincial Police), the scammers use the victim's phone number to register for an e-wallet. They pretend to enter the wrong OTP code to ask the victim to resend the e-wallet password sent via phone to make a money transfer to appropriate property.

They also asked for the e-wallet code created from the victim's phone number to withdraw money. Photo provided by the police

Using the same method, this subject defrauded and appropriated 5 million VND from Ms. Nguyen Thi H. (residing in Nghia Dan district). Ms. Le Thi H. was also defrauded by this subject, but luckily when she was about to send the OTP security code, someone stopped her so she did not lose any money.

According to the information reported by the victims, the subjects often choose the time from Friday afternoon to evening to carry out the fraud. Because tomorrow is Saturday, Sunday, banks are usually closed, so if the victim has doubts, it is very difficult to verify and lock the account.

To gain the trust of the victims, the subjects hacked the Facebook accounts of overseas workers who had purchased online from the victims. Then, they created many fake phone numbers, similar to foreign phone numbers such as:+447239935130; +447239939108… to text.

These subjects also created a fake website through the link:dichvu-tructuyen.wix.com/westernunionto steal the victim's personal information and bank account. In the final step, they ask the victim to provide an OTP code to complete the transaction, but in fact, it is to control the victim's bank account.

They pretend to enter the wrong OTP code so that the victim can send the e-wallet code. Photo provided by the police.

“Currently, the Team has received reports from 3 victims, but there are some people from other provinces who were in the same sales group as the above people but have not come forward to report. Although the amount of money taken is not much, with the current large number of online sellers, it is very likely that many people will fall into the trap,” Captain Hieu added./.

Pham Bang