In March 25-31, the number of scams reported by Vietnamese internet users to NCSC (the National Cyber Security Centre) via the alert system canhbao.khonggianmang.vn had reached 300. From the beginning of the year to the end of March, the figure was 3,800.
NCSC has found that commercial banks, securities companies, e-commerce sites and large corporations were the institutions affected the most by hackers.
Experts warned that online scams will continue to increase amid Vietnam’s digital transformation.
The use of AI to collect and analyze users’ data allows hackers to create sophisticated scams.
“The methods and tricks used by scammers have become increasingly complicated. They even use AI tools and machine learning to optimize scam scenarios to increase the success rate of scams,” said deputy chair of VNISA (Vietnam Information Security Association) Khong Huy Hung.
Replying to questions raised by the press at the April regular press conference, AIS stressed that online scams are getting more complicated on Vietnam’s cyberspace, while children and elderly are vulnerable targets of scammers.
“With the explosive technology development, children and elderly have more chances to access the internet, but they are not equipped with sufficient skills to protect themselves,” AIS explained.
AIS believes that in addition to technical solutions, it is necessary to disseminate information about the types of scams.
As of March 2024, AIS’s database had detected 124,000 fake websites related to online scams. The national anti-scam database has connected directly with Coc Coc, Zalo and Safegate to protect people from online scam websites.
The tools that help people detect malware, and examine information leakage and scam websites are provided for free at khonggianmang.vn. This is where individuals and organizations can lodge complaints when they think they are victims of scams. In addition, cases related to online scams are updated regularly.
AIS said it plans to organize an online training course via MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) in the fourth quarter in 2024 to provide basic information to people, and launch a campaign on heightening people’s awareness about information security.
