The Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) warns the public of scams run by people posing as VNPT staff. Photo dantri.com.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) recently issued a statement on its website warning the public of scams run by people posing as VNPT staff.

According to the notification, since September last year, many subscribers of VNPT's home phone and mobile phone services have been contacted by the ring.

Pretending to be VNPT staff, scammers called subscribers to request the payment of phone charges of up to VND8-9 million (US$380-428) and convincing them to call certain phone numbers.

Some subscribers were even threatened to make payments within a two hours period or else faced being reported to police for investigation and punishment.

VNPT also warned the scammers were posing as employees of other organisations and companies.

According to experts, the scheme aims to elicit funds from subscribers by convincing them to call separate numbers to pay telephone charges over the phone, or by appropriating private information. But more aggressive groups are even taking to threatening or blackmailing family members to force payments from subscribers.

VNPT said the authorities had found the calls were made from overseas telephone offices using VoIP technology and harnessing Internet Protocol (IP) networks, which is illegal in Vietnam.

The telecommunications company said it had been co-operating with relevant police agencies to further investigate and eliminate the scam.

The company also notified its subscribers that VNPT does not display any automatic reminder of service charges via any number but used a common phone number of "800126".

In some cities and provinces, subscribers can contact particular addresses regarding their service use. Subscribers in Hà Nội can also call 38700700 while those in HCM City can log onto the web addresshttp://ebill.hcmtelecom.vn. — VNS