Lost tens of millions of dong because of trusting in buying and selling goods on social networks

Late cries for help

On February 28, 2022, in a sad mood because she lost nearly 70 million VND, Ms. TLA, residing in Kim Son town, Que Phong district, filed a complaint with the police about being contacted by subjects via social networks.foolmoney. In the petition, Ms. TLA explained that through her Facebook account, an unknown person contacted her, introducing herself as PGH, inviting her to participate in the program "Sales collaborators receive commission".

Specifically, the PGH subject sweetly invited Ms. TLA with the content "only need 200 thousand VND", with a few simple steps, she will receive a commission much higher than the initial investment. The subject instructed Ms. TLA to set up 1accounton the sales page through the link provided by the subject to purchase orders for sale on that page. For each order that Ms. TLA successfully places, the principal will be refunded along with 30,000 - 100,000 VND in "commission" depending on the amount she orders.

Report of a victim who was scammed of money via social networks. Photo: PV

The subject also emphasized that "the higher the purchase price, the higher the commission will be, orders of 20 - 30 million VND will receive 200,000 to 1 million VND in commission". Ms. TLA placed the first order and transferred money to the account, but the subjects still returned the principal and high commission.

However, the next times, after Ms. A transferred money, the withdrawal account was locked. In order to withdraw the money, they asked Ms. A to buy more orders, then gave the excuse that it was past the transaction time, or that the disbursement levels had not been met and that she had to place more orders before she could withdraw the money. In this way, Ms. TLA transferred money many times to the accounts provided by the scammers.

In her appeal to the authorities, Ms. A. stated: “I was gullible, at first I thought 200,000 VND was not much, but the more I participated, the more money I had to pay. The subject used many words and advised me to pawn my belongings, borrow money to continue so that I could get back the money I had previously paid bytransfer moneythrough the account of their accomplices. Because I was foolish and didn't know what to do, I wanted to get back the money I had paid, so I tried to borrow money, mortgaged my property and transferred more than 60 million VND to them. When I could no longer find money to continue participating, I asked my family for advice, and after being advised, I came to my senses."

The subjects contacted Ms. NTH to advertise online sales to cheat her money. Photo: PV

Also at the end of February 2022, through the Nghe An Newspaper hotline, Ms. NTH residing in Do Luong town reported that she was scammed out of 10 million VND by a scammer. Specifically, through the online sales social network Facebook, Ms. NTH ordered 2 voice recorders and phone locators with a total value of 10 million VND. With advertising words about the superiority of high-tech machines, the subject asked Ms. NTH to transfer money before delivering the goods. Ms. NTH explained: “The subject provided a phone number and a Zalo account named “Ha Noi” for contact and guidance. Because I needed to buy the machines, I transferred money in advance to the subject via the account number named PMH that he provided. After transferring the money, he promised to send the machines to me. But after a few days I still did not receive the goods, I texted via Zalo to ask but the subject did not reply. I called the previously exchanged number but the phone number was locked, only then did I realize I had been scammed and had lost my money.”

Improve your knowledge to avoid being scammed

Through the investigation and handling of the police force, it is shown that the victims that the subjects of social network fraud are targeting are gullible people, people who are unemployed, or people who need to sell online to earn extra income. These subjects often post advertisements for online sales collaborators on social networks, requiring collaborators to pay for orders in advance to the company and then receive the original amount plus a discount, as happened to Ms. TLA.

Regarding the type of crime that takes advantage of social networks to defraud and appropriate property, the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control of the Provincial Police said that in 2021, the unit has fought to clarify 08 cases, 22 subjects related to acts of fraud and appropriation of property through social networks Facebook, Zalo, Youtube...

Therefore, when working as collaborators for companies, businesses, and suppliers of goods and services, people need to clearly check information about the goods and suppliers through many different sources to verify accuracy.

The Provincial Police Department of Criminal Investigation also warned that criminals also take advantage of social networks to commit fraud by many other tricks such as faking emails with instructions from authorities with attached documents with malicious code to steal personal information. The content of the email asks the victim to download the attached file or the links they provide to view the detailed content. When the victim opens the file, accesses the links or downloads the application via the link, the virus or malicious code will be automatically downloaded and installed on the victim's personal device and steal information and withdraw money from the account.

The police force has repeatedly warned and warned against fraudulent tricks on social networks. Illustrative photo

To proactively prevent fraudulent activities in cyberspace, the Police Department recommends that people do not provide personal information, phone numbers, addresses, etc. to any person whose identity and background are unknown. When buying goods online, people need to screen and carefully check advertising and sales information about goods and the seller's identity, choose a reputable address, make transparent payments and be careful when transferring money in advance. Be careful when receiving emails. Do not click on links or open attachments in emails that you do not want to receive or come from an unknown sender. Do not transfer money to strangers. In case of suspicion of fraudulent activities to appropriate property, promptly notify the nearest Police Department for reception and guidance on handling.