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Hacking tutorial sites cracked, ID thieves nabbed

Hacking tutorial sites cracked, ID thieves nabbed

Friday, January 10, 2014, 16:33 GMT+7

Police from the Ministry of Public Security have arrested nine people who stole foreigners’ credit card information through the Internet, which they sold online or used to appropriate money from the victims’ bank accounts to buy expensive goods online.

>> Vietnam holds 8 who stole credit card info to filch $300 mln >> Police seize 12 foreigners for swindling with high tech From morning to noon yesterday, January 9, 2014, police teams simultaneously raided the residences of the perpetrators in Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Da Nang, and Hanoi and arrested them on charges of “using information from computer networks to appropriate property.” The arrested were the founders and administrators of two websites, vietexpert.info and hkvfamily.info, which they set up as forums for hackers who steal foreigners’ credit cards for the purpose of appropriating money. Of these detainees, Huynh Phuoc Man, 24, of Phu Nhuan District, is the leader of vietexpert.info, and Pham Thai Thanh, 31, is the administrator of hkvfamily.info. The remaining seven include 29-year-old Vu Viet Dung of Hanoi; Le Vinh Anh Van, 24, Le Van Hao Hoa, 49, Pham Tri Nhat Quang, 29, Nguyen Ngoc Hao, 31, Do Ha Duy Thanh, 32, and Vuong Quoc Nha, all of HCMC.

Most of the detainees are skilled in information technology and computer science, police said. The two websites began operation in 2011 and had about 5,000 members by the time the nine thieves were arrested.  They charged members US$100 each for admission to the website, and registered members were granted accounts and passwords so that they could read, send, and write comments on numerous articles posed on the websites. The content of the articles focused on how to hack websites, exchange stolen information, and other illegal tricks. Members who wished to take part in special sections of the sites had to pay an additional fee of $50 to obtain membership for each section.  

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Huynh Phuoc Man, 24, of HCMC's Phu Nhuan District, the leader of vietexpert.info (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

With their membership, members were provided with instructions on how to hack websites to steal foreigners’ credit card information and how to make use of it, including how to exchange or trade it in.Appropriating billions of dong Huynh Phuoc Man had his girlfriend use her name to set up a bank account at the DongA Joint Stock Commercial Bank (DongA Bank) to use to sell and buy stolen information among members of the websites.

The balance of this account was often over VND2 billion ($96,000). He also opened another account at the same bank in the name of his former lover to use for his own deals.

Do Duy Ha Thanh, 32, and his wife focused on trading stolen credit card information, using it to steal money from their victims’ bank accounts to buy goods online from abroad. When these goods were delivered to Vietnam, they sold them for a profit. Upon searching Thanh’s house, police seized dozens of expensive handbags and laptops, valued at thousands of US dollars each. Police also seized a lot of equipment that had been used to hack and steal credit card information.  At Hao’s house in Go Vap District, police seized a BMW worth about VND2 billion ($96,000) and many deluxe electronic items. According to initial investigations, Hao used stolen credit card information to buy expensive electronics from the US which he had sent to Vietnam. There was a time when the total value of such transactions amounted to VND20 billion ($960,000).   Police also summoned two traders who had bought items that were sold to them by the credit card information thieves. One of the traders handed in 21 laptops, 19 mobile phones, six iPads, many loudspeakers, earphones, shoes, perfume, and luxurious watches. Police are expanding their investigation into the case.

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