Foreign national arrested in HCMC over fake BTS traffic fine scam

On August 10 the Authority Of Radio Frequency Management under the Ministry of Science and Technology reported that the Region II Radio Frequency Center detected signals from a fake BTS in HCMC during routine monitoring.

Items and equipment seized by the police. Photo by courtesy of the Authority of Radio Frequency Management

It then coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security’s southern technical department to track down the signal, arrest the suspect and seize the equipment.

The suspect had mounted two fake BTS devices on a car and drove through the city’s streets to send messages purportedly from the National Public Service Portal. The messages accused recipients of traffic violations and urged them to click on a phishing link. According to the radio authority, this can result in the theft of personal information and account details.

The HCMC police had previously issued warnings about this scam. The authority said the act posed a serious threat to information security and the credibility of state agencies though the police were able to intervene quickly.

It advised the public to avoid clicking on links in unknown messages and to verify all demands for fines, personal details or financial transactions on the official portals of relevant agencies.