The Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention under the Da Nang City Police yesterday announced that criminals exploited security flaws with an automated software to steal international payment card data from foreigners.
In addition, the department revealed the initiation of a criminal case against an organized crime ring for illegally collecting, storing, trading, and disclosing banking account information.
Earlier, through professional operations, the department had coordinated with related units to uncover an organized crime group led by a man residing in Nha Trang City of Khanh Hoa Province and a man in Thanh Khe District of Da Nang City.
According to the investigation, the two suspects rented two houses in Da Nang, equipped them with advanced technology, and recruited 15 persons with IT expertise. They exploited security flaws to develop the automated software that harvested international bank payment card data from foreigners to illegally appropriate assets.
From November 2024 until their operation was dismantled, the group used software to unlawfully collect data from over 21,000 international credit card accounts including VISA, Mastercard, and Discover. These cards were used to make thousands of purchases on the Amazon e-commerce platform, resulting in asset appropriation and illicit gains worth billions of Vietnamese dong.
During the search of the two locations, authorities confiscated 15 mobile phones, 2 laptops, 16 CPUs, and 5 computer monitors.
Currently, the case file has been transferred to the Da Nang City Police Investigation Agency for further handling and expansion. At the same time, the Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department is coordinating with Amazon and Visa to address the exploited security vulnerabilities.
