Online scammers consider their crime a “profession”

By Minh Son July 4, 2024 | 6:47 p.m. PT

A banking app instructs users on how to set up their biometric data, with scam warnings in the background. Photo by VnExpress/Khuong Nha

Online scammers operate like businesses, with some even treating scamming as a “profession,” the Ministry of Public Security said.

At a conference on Thursday on protecting bank customers, Trieu Manh Tung, deputy director of the ministry’s cybersecurity and high-tech crime prevention department, said scammers can impersonate anyone to deceive people online thanks to the anonymity of the internet.

Last year, police busted a 300-strong ring of scammers who had an office to work in, a canteen to eat lunch in and even research and training departments, he said.

Scammers have adapted to the fact that banks now require biometric authentication, he said.

Criminals are now posing as bank employees and asking people to provide personal information.

“Customers just need to click on one link and they can lose all their money in a second or two.”

Fraudulent organizations now operate across borders, with many operating not only in Vietnam but also elsewhere, making it difficult for authorities to combat them, he added.