Dismantling an online black credit line using iCloud accounts as collateral
Authorities said they have just initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and issued detention orders for 13 subjects (from many different provinces and cities across the country) for the act of usury on cyberspace in civil transactions.
The prosecution decisions were approved by the People's Procuracy of Bac Giang province. The above-mentioned network has lent more than 30,000 times with a total amount of 70 billion VND, with interest rates ranging from 319%/year to 629%/year, 15.9 to 31.4 times higher than the highest interest rate allowed in civil transactions.
Previously, through the work of grasping the situation in the area and on cyberspace, the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention, Bac Giang Provincial Police discovered the above "black credit" operation line.
Notably, the borrower only needs to mortgage the iPhone by providing an iCloud account. The group of subjects requires the borrower to log out of their iCloud account and then log in to the iCloud account provided by the subject so that the subject can manage the borrower's information and phone. The borrower can borrow from several million to tens of millions of VND depending on the value of the iPhone.
In addition, borrowers must provide a photo of their citizen identification card, portrait photo, phone number, contacts, permanent address, occupation, work address, current residence, full name of father, mother, wife, husband, Facebook name of relatives, bank account number...
After checking for duplicate information, the management entity will disburse the loan to the borrower's bank account after cutting the interest in advance for about 3 - 10 days, the application fee is 5% of the loan. Then, every day, the borrower must pay the principal and interest by transferring money to the bank account of the designated entities.
In case the borrower does not pay, the subject will lock the subject's iCloud account and the borrower will not be able to use the phone, forcing the borrower to pay to unlock the phone. When the borrower pays off the loan, the subject will log out of the logged-in iCloud account, at which point the borrower will be able to use his phone normally.
Faced with the above situation, Colonel Nguyen Quoc Toan, Director of Bac Giang Provincial Police, urgently directed the establishment of a special project to fight.
On June 24, the Task Force consisting of 60 officers and soldiers of the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, Bac Giang City Police and a number of related professional units of the Provincial Police suddenly and urgently searched 3 locations including: Apartment building in CT10A building, Nam Trung Yen urban area, Cau Giay district, Hanoi city; apartment building in CT10C building, Kim Van Kim Lu urban area, Dai Kim ward, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi city and a location in village 3, Dong Son commune, Tam Diep city, Ninh Binh province.
Bac Giang Provincial Police seized many related devices, objects and documents including: 4 computers, 158 iPhones of various types, 5 Internet broadcasting devices and many other related objects and documents.
Based on documents and evidence, on July 5, the Investigation Police Agency of Bac Giang City Police initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and issued an order to detain the above subjects.
Initially, the Investigation Police Agency of Bac Giang City Police determined that this was a large-scale, organized "black credit" network operating with high interest loans on cyberspace nationwide, with a clear division of roles and tasks, including the ring leader, providing money and equipment systems for the group to operate.
The group manager directly manages employees, assesses customers and disburses loans, and receives a salary of about 12 million VND/month. The technical support person contacts collaborators, assesses customers, guides machine installation, manages debt reminders, debt collection, and debt collection, and receives a salary of about 8 million VND/month. The collaborator posts loan advertisements on social networking platforms, searches for borrowers, collects borrower information, and receives a profit of 25% to 30% of successful loans.
The leaders of the loan sharking groups in this network include: Do Thanh Ton (born 2000, in Dong Son commune, Tam Diep city, Ninh Binh province); Vu Van Phong (born 2004) in Hong Phong commune, Thanh Mien district, Hai Duong province); Dao Van Thai (born 1993, in Vu Ban commune, Dan Hung district, Phu Tho province); Nguyen Ngoc Linh (born 1992, in Phu Loc commune, Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province).
Major Chu Van Hieu, Deputy Head of the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, Bac Giang Provincial Police, said: “People borrowing money through iCloud accounts has many potential risks. Borrowers are at high risk of having their data and personal information collected. Mortgaging a loan through an iCloud account also means that the borrower has given access to their iPhone such as: Photos, videos, contacts... When the borrower does not pay, the subject will remind them to pay the debt, collect the debt; call and text many times to bother relatives and the subject will lock the iPhone...".
The Investigation Police Agency of Bac Giang City Police is continuing to investigate and expand the case.
