Trying to read other people's messages on social networks, many people 'fall into the trap'

Social networks have recently seen many advertisements for services that allow people to read messages and monitor social network accounts. Although this is not a new form of fraud, many users still fall into the trap.

According to a report from the Department of Information Security, Ministry of Information and Communications, Huong Son District Police (Ha Tinh) recently prosecuted two criminals who used the trick of providing text message reading services using technology to steal more than 100 million VND.

The method of this group of subjects is that when customers have a need to contact, the subjects will announce the price of each service package and request a partial payment in advance. Once the victim has transferred the money, they immediately block contact and disappear.

Fraudsters provide services to read messages on social networks with the aim of asking victims to transfer money and then quickly "disappear".

With the same purpose as above, the method used by the subjects is to contact customers via the Zalo messaging application, use a bank account (not the owner's) to gain the trust of others, transfer the deposit and then appropriate it.

When customers want to use the service of monitoring and reading other people's messages on social networks, the subjects instruct customers to send the accounts they want to monitor, notify them of the price of each service package (tracking software) and provide a bank account number to transfer money.

Because they trusted the subjects, many victims transferred money to the above account number. After receiving the money, the subjects blocked all communication.

The scammers contact and provide information about the service packages of reading messages, monitoring other people's social media accounts, along with the account number to transfer the service fee. After the victim transfers the service fee in advance, the scammers will block communication.

Recommending people not to trust products and services of unknown origin online, the Information Security Department also pointed out that the act of reading messages is a violation of the law and social ethics.

Therefore, people should not use services or applications that are intended to invade privacy.

Users should also avoid downloading applications from unofficial sources; use security software to scan and detect malware that may be tracking the device; regularly change email passwords, social network accounts and use two-factor authentication to enhance security.

Chi Hieu