Vietnam authorities warn of social security and health insurance scams

Vietnam Social Security and local police departments have issued warnings regarding sophisticated cyber scams targeting social insurance and health insurance beneficiaries. Fraudsters are impersonating officials from social security agencies, the police, or local ward authorities to contact citizens.

Scammers often use urgent pretexts, such as claiming a person is eligible for health insurance refunds for 2026 or that their electronic identification files are erroneous. They pressure victims to resolve these issues immediately to avoid losing benefits. To facilitate the theft, criminals use Zalo to connect with victims and send links to fake public service portals or malicious .apk files.

Once these files are installed on Android devices and accessibility permissions are granted, the malware can take full control of the phone. This allows criminals to monitor screen activity, steal banking credentials, and intercept OTP messages to perform unauthorized financial transactions.