A conference discussing the fraud prevention and combat in cyberspace took place in Hà Nội on Monday. — Photo Vietnam+

Nearly 17,500 online fraud cases targeting Vietnamese internet users have been reported on the information security warning portal operated by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).

The total losses from the frauds amount to more than VNĐ300 billion (US$12.24 million).

A conference discussing fraud prevention and how to combat crimes in cyberspace took place in Hà Nội on Monday.

The event, organised by the National Cybersecurity Association (NCA), under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), sought to clarify the strategic and comprehensive vision of the law, solutions and responsibilities of each agency through exchange and discussion between State management agencies, organisations and businesses.

The conference is also a forum for State management agencies, businesses, social organisations and individuals to connect, discuss, unify awareness and solutions and work together to promote opportunities and minimise challenges from cyberspace for the development of each agency, business and individual.

Speaking at the opening, NCA Chairman Lương Tam Quang emphasised that fraud in cyberspace had become very complicated in recent times, causing serious consequences for organisations and individuals, and harming development.

It required early and thorough assessment and comprehensive solutions for effective prevention and containment, he added.

Cyber criminals have continuously changed their methods and tactics, thoroughly taking advantage of new technology to attack, infiltrate, and commit large-scale fraud, causing huge economic losses and adversely affecting social order and safety, threatening people's lives in Việt Nam last year, heard at the conference.

Statistics show that the rate of users receiving fraudulent messages and calls is 73 per cent. Data from the MPS shows that 1,500 cases were prosecuted for cyber fraud last year, with the total amount of money defrauded by people being VNĐ8 – 10 trillion.

The fight against crime using high technology showed that the activities of criminals were very professional, said Quang.

The NCA representative said: “The targets of online fraud are mainly the elderly, students, workers with unstable jobs, low income and even children.

"These are people who already use smartphones and have the conditions to participate in the online environment, but their ability to perceive signs and acts of fraud is low, making them susceptible to take advantage of their gullibility and greed to commit fraud."

The NCA representative also said that starting from the current situation of preventing fraud crimes in cyberspace, there was an urgent need to soon unify awareness and action in all agencies and organisations and individuals.

From the MIC perspective, the State management agency for network information security, Trần Quang Hưng, deputy director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society, commented that in the period when the Government was accelerating digital transformation, bad actors were constantly taking advantage of the technology boom to defraud and appropriate people's property online.

Hưng said: “The problem of fraud in cyberspace is becoming more and more common, complex and causing increasingly greater consequences.

"Preventing fraud in cyberspace is not only the responsibility of State management agencies but also the common responsibility of the entire society, especially of organisations and businesses doing business and providing services in cyberspace.

"Organisations and businesses must be responsible for taking all feasible measures to protect people and customers using their services safely in cyberspace," he said. — VNS