Banks warn of fraud in biometric verification

From July 1, banks have required facial biometric verification for transactions exceeding VND10 million per transaction or VND20 million per day, as well as bill payments over VND100 million.

Vietcombank and Agribank have issued alerts regarding these scams, where imposters pretend to be bank staff offering biometric setup assistance and subsequently steal funds from accounts.

Vietcombank has reported that, in the initial implementation phase, fraudsters exploited the difficulties some customers faced in updating biometric information. These imposters posed as bank employees, contacting customers via phone calls, text messages, and social media platforms, such as Zalo and Facebook, under aliases like "Bank Staff" or "Customer Support." They interacted under official bank social media posts, urging customers to contact them privately, to deceive customers into divulging their banking service information, and to steal their assets.

These perpetrators request customers to provide personal information, bank account details, ID card photos, and facial images under the guise of offering assistance. They may even ask for a video call to capture voice and gestures. Customers are instructed to follow links to download unfamiliar applications purportedly for biometric collection support on their phones. Once they obtain this information, these individuals will proceed to withdraw funds from customers' bank accounts.

Vietcombank emphasizes that it never requests personal information through phone calls, SMS, emails, or messaging applications, such as Zalo, Viber, and Facebook Messenger. Therefore, customers should avoid clicking on links and disclosing any account security details, digital banking credentials (login names, passwords, OTP codes), card information (card numbers, OTP codes), or any other personal banking or security-related information.

Agribank has reported that fraudsters are persuading people to click on unfamiliar links to download and install applications supposedly for biometric data collection support on their phones. After obtaining victims' information, these individuals illegally access funds from bank accounts and misuse customers' details for malicious purposes.

Agribank advises customers to take measures to protect their personal and bank account information. It emphasizes never sharing OTPs, digital banking passwords, or any sensitive information with anyone, including bank staff. Agribank also clarifies that it does not contact customers directly to provide instructions on biometric data collection.