Techcombank's official website at www.techcombank.com.vn. VNA Photo

HÀ NỘI — Banks have advised account owners to be vigilant as fraudulent activities, both online and offline, are on the rise.

Account holders have been told not give out personal information such as their username, PIN code and OTP under any circumstances, especially to websites that they are not familiar with.  

According to Vietcombank, one of the largest banks in the country, there are numerous websites with misleading names including vietcombankwubank.weebly.com; vietcombankvnk.weebly.com; vietcombank-dv-nhanh.weebly.com; ngan-hang-vcb-online-247-nhan-tien-quoc-te.weebly.com, which the bank believes are deliberate attempts to lure unaware customers to log in and steal their information and their assets.

Sacombank reported incidents in which fraudsters sent their customers a message saying they have been selected as the winners of certain prizes. To receive the prizes, they were asked to log into their account on a fake website at sacombanktrian.com.

On other occasions, fraudsters contacted customers to tell them they have won something, or they have received money from someone overseas. Claiming to be the bank’s employees, they asked their victims to either log in on a fake link, download an app or to provide their account details.

In addition, passwords should be changed every three months using combinations that do not contain information such as phone numbers, birthdays, personal vehicle license plates or oversimplified passwords, e.g 12345678.

Techcombank has also issued warnings to customers after they spotted a number of fake hotline numbers, which often show up in search results of Google or Yahoo. The bank reiterated that their support hotline remains at 1800 588 822 and in cases of uncertainty, customers must always refer to their official website: www.techcombank.com.vn or call the numbers printed on the back of Techcombank-issued cards.

To minimise the chance personal information may be stolen, account owners must never give their account details away as banks never require their customers to reveal or provide their account details under any circumstances. They should also refrain from logging into accounts on unfamiliar websites or apps.

Should customers have reason to believe their account information may have been stolen, they are advised to contact the bank as soon as possible and to go to the nearest branch office to receive support. — VNS