Bought 80,000 Facebook accounts to bombard with scam messages
From tens of thousands of stolen Facebook accounts, the scam group launched a campaign of bombarding thousands of people with messages offering “500% discount on scratch card value”.
The group of young people who scammed phone card promotions to appropriate property included Nguyen Tung Duong (19 years old, in Soc Son, Hanoi) and 3 suspects all under the age of 30. They have just been prosecuted by the Hanoi City Police Investigation Agency for the crime of Using computer networks, telecommunications networks, the Internet or digital devices to commit acts of property appropriation.
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| Nguyen Tung Duong. Photo: TH |
During the 2016 Tet holiday, the Hanoi City Police Department of High-Tech Crime Prevention discovered that Duong and his accomplices had set up 6 websites to commit fraud by posting promotional information about phone card top-ups.
To make this spam message known to many people, Duong spent money to buy 80,000 Facebook accounts that were taken over by hackers. After that, the four young men carried out a campaign of bombarding the friends list of the stolen Facebook accounts with messages.
Depending on the time, this group composes scam messages with appropriate content to trap Facebook users. For example, on April 30, Duong and his accomplices released the message: “On the occasion of April 30, 2015, all 3 network operators simultaneously organize a card top-up promotion program for employees working in the 3 network operators through the online payment website system. When you top up your card on the system, you will receive a 10x card top-up promotion…”
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| Message from scam website. |
In the message, the scam group claimed to be the Vietnamese Ministry of Telecommunications, offering a 500% top-up card value bonus, instructing Facebook account holders on how to access the scam website and asking them to refer it to their relatives.
Police determined that Duong created 8 accounts on a payment gateway system, integrated into websites that scammed scratch cards. When Facebook users loaded cards, virtual money was automatically loaded into the above accounts. Duong then found a way to convert virtual money into real money.
So far, the police have determined that Nguyen Tung Duong and his accomplices have appropriated 463 million VND, of which 312 million VND has been withdrawn in cash.
No 500% scratch card promotion The Head of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Police Department informed that all promotional messages about huge phone card top-ups or messages about winning motorbikes and cash on Facebook are scams. According to regulations, current promotions for phone card top-ups by network operators are not more than 50% of the card value. There is no such thing as a telecommunications network offering promotions 10, 20 times or 500% of the card value. Police recommend that people call the hotline directly to verify promotional information. Usually, the promotion program is announced by the network operator via text message to the user's subscriber. Absolutely do not top up the scratch card code. When the price of gasoline increases, people immediately think of travel, and the cost of living increases accordingly. |
According to Zing.vn
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