Thanks for liking my nephew's English speaking contest, turns out to be a scam

I received a message: "Everyone, my nephew is having an English speaking contest. Please help like it if you have Zalo." It turned out to be a scam.

Spam messages advertising gambling services are still sent to users - Photo: DUC THIEN

As Tuoi Tre Online reported, with many extremely sophisticated scenarios, recently, criminals have impersonated many people to defraud and appropriate property. They even impersonated a contest that was being watched to ask people to vote and then hacked the account.

The following sharing by reader Thu Hien adds more perspective on this story.

Imitate the voice

I received a message from my cousin on Facebook: "Everyone, a nephew is competing in an English speaking contest. Anyone with Zalo can please like it!". Then she sent me the Zalo page for English Speaking Contest 2024...

Clicking on this page will display the code number provided on my Zalo page.

During the operation, there was an error. My cousin told me to text three acquaintances on Zalo to restore it.

I was suspicious and hadn't followed through when my cousin called on video call saying he was home and off work today. He didn't show me his picture, only his voice. And the voice sounded exactly like his cousin's.

Luckily, while I was confused, I read a post on my cousin's wall that Facebook was hacked and everyone should be careful not to be fooled.

Feeling suspicious, I called back via Facebook and this person answered with the same voice saying it was me, just liking to help my nephew, not trying to scam you out of money, so why pretend like this?

I called my cousin's sister and was told that my cousin said her phone was frozen and had an error but she didn't pay attention. When the phone was restored, she received many calls and messages from acquaintances asking about borrowing money. She then realized and checked her phone again and was shocked.

Ask to borrow money, break the bank

Deepfake technology is very sophisticated and is growing, it can imitate the voice, eyes, mouth and face (full face deepfake). Even relatives living in the same house often do not recognize.

Many people have been scammed in the same way and all of them are lending money to relatives with large amounts. Therefore, everyone needs to be calm, not careless, lending money or any other purpose. Meet in person then give money, do not give even if it is a video call or hearing the owner's voice.

In case of force majeure such as an unavoidable accident, limit the amount of money transferred, ask verification questions that only you and the owner can answer. Even if the owner cries, begs, asks for help and puts pressure, insists on waiting and calls as many people involved to verify as possible, definitely do not lose heart.

Before, I heard people tell stories about many different types of online scams, hundreds of millions and billions of dollars. I used to wonder why they acted so carelessly. If I were in that situation, I would be much more alert. But when it happened, I realized there were many types of scams.

From an outsider’s perspective, after hearing it, I forgot it immediately, so if I were in a similar situation and was scammed by a scammer, I would feel extremely confused. Therefore, I share my experience, hoping that many people will avoid being scammed in a moment. Money is lost, and psychology and health are severely affected.

Everyone should remind their family, parents, and acquaintances how to handle situations when encountering online scammers.

Regarding the scam of inviting people to vote for the contest, the Department of Information Security (Ministry of Information and Communications) recommends that people should be cautious with posts or information of unknown origin on social networks.

People need to check the authenticity of the information. Absolutely do not follow instructions, do not make money transfers to strangers.

Do not provide sensitive personal information in any form. Do not access unfamiliar links.

Never share bank account numbers, OTP codes, passwords, or any sensitive information.

In case of suspicion of being scammed, people need to immediately report to the authorities or consumer protection organizations for timely support, resolution and prevention.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nho-like-giup-chau-thi-hung-bien-tieng-anh-hoa-ra-lua-dao-20241129103236158.htm