HÀ NỘI — People need to be wary of new sophisticated methods and tricks of criminals, said Phạm Tùng Vân, deputy head of the Hà Nội Police’s Advisory Board.

At a regular Tuesday meeting between journalists and the municipal Party Committee, Vân said there had been a rise in cybercrimes in the first six months of this year. These crimes involve the use of advanced technology and sophisticated methods and tricks to deceive people and appropriate their property, he added.

Remarkably, in some cases, criminals have posed as State judicial officers (working at the police, at the court or as procurator) to take money from people on the guise of freeing their family members involved in a criminal offense.

Criminals have illegally appropriated up to hundreds of millions of đồng using this method.

To deal with the situation, deputy head of the City Communist Party’s Propaganda Commission, Trần Xuân Hạ, has asked the media to promote public awareness of the law and encourage people to be vigilant towards crimes. He also urged the media to inform the public about criminal plots to help prevent them.

Hà Nội police reported that in the first six months of this year, there were 1,900 criminal cases, of which 57 caused serious damages. Although the number of criminal cases reduced by 403 against the same period last year, serious criminal cases increased by 11.

Child abuse is another discreet crime. Forty such cases have been reported so far this year, four more than the same period in 2017.

Drug abuse has also increased in severity, with users employing dangerous and ready-to-use weapons against State officials on duty. —VNS