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| Trần Văn Út under custody. — VNA/VNS Photo |
HÀ NỘI — Police in Hà Nội have arrested a man accused of using a fake cell tower to send scam messages to hundreds of thousands of mobile phone users.
Trần Văn Út, 34, was caught red-handed on Wednesday at the Văn Phú Intersection in Hà Đông District.
Authorities seized a Toyota Inova containing sophisticated equipment, including a makeshift base transceiver station (BTS) assembled from a black box, a laptop, a power supply unit, and a Samsung phone.
This equipment allowed Út to impersonate legitimate cell towers and send fraudulent SMS messages to Viettel and Mobiphone subscribers.
The messages warned recipients that their accounts had been flagged as 'unusual' and would be locked within 12 hours, prompting them to click a link to a fake Telegram website.
This phishing scheme was likely designed to steal personal information and potentially gain access to victims' accounts.
He confessed to operating the fake BTS after being contacted by an individual claiming to be Chinese via Telegram. He was promised a monthly salary of VNĐ50 million (approximately US$2,000) to carry out the operation.
Police believe Út may have sent messages to as many as 389,494 mobile devices between October 20 and his arrest. — VNS
