Quảng Ngãi Police warn of increasingly sophisticated caller ID spoofing scams and advise turning off the phone when a suspicious call appears to prevent financial loss

Quảng Ngãi province police have issued a warning about increasingly sophisticated high-tech fraud that uses Caller ID Spoofing to impersonate authorities, banks, or even relatives, leaving victims with little chance to detect the scam at first glance. The attacker can appear as the police, a bank, or a relative, prompting victims to act quickly. The fraud typically starts by creating panic; the caller may impersonate investigators involved in money laundering, drugs, or other crimes and request transfers to a 'temporary hold' account for verification. In other cases, the caller pretends a bank employee and says the account has been compromised, demanding the OTP to 'lock the account urgently'. More troubling, criminals are now using AI voice deepfake to imitate a relative, making the call appear even more credible and press victims to borrow money for emergencies. When both the phone number and voice sound familiar, many victims fall for it before verifying. Official sources say the common thread is requests for sensitive information such as OTP codes, passwords, or ID numbers, or urgent transfers; victims are told to keep it secret and not hang up and to follow steps to 'assist in the investigation' or 'protect the account'. Some also instruct to install unfamiliar apps or visit suspicious links that may contain malware to take control of the phone. The strongest advice is to hang up immediately and not engage; then verify information by calling the bank or authorities' official numbers, or contacting relatives through other channels. The police emphasize the motto '3 NOs 1 CHECK' — do not blindly trust the displayed number, do not provide OTPs or passwords or personal information, and do not transfer money before verification. Always verify information via official channels to avoid financial risk from sophisticated scams. If signs of fraud are detected, stay calm, do not follow the caller's instructions, and report to the nearest police. In a world where technology can mimic both phone numbers and voices, individual vigilance remains the last and most important line of defense; sometimes a simple action like turning off the phone at the right moment is enough to prevent an unwarranted loss.