VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Public Security has warned of the increase in hi-tech crimes, particularly in the financial sector, in recent times.

Crimes had increased not only in terms of scale but through the range of activities with more sophisticated tricks, said Deputy Director of the ministry's Police General Department for Crime Prevention and Control Nguyen Van Lan on Monday at a press briefing to introduce a new crime fighting campaign.

Credit card fraud, identity theft, computer network hacking and fraudulent online sales had become more common, he said.

Head of the department Colonel Nguyen Thanh Hoa reported that the ministry, together with police from the UK, had caught four Vietnamese hackers who had broken into a company network in the UK and stolen credit card information worth six million pounds.

The hackers admitted that they had transferred money from other people's accounts into their own and had tried to avoid detection by stealing small amounts at a time.

They also confessed that they had not withdrawn the money themselves, but hired other people to do so in order to avoid authorities.

The culprits used the money to buy gold worth VND4.7 billion (US$239,700) and expensive goods such as laptops. They also invested in real estate.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News