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Dec 14, 2020 / 15:00

Millions of Vietnamese Facebook accounts stolen

When using Facebook, users are advised to regularly change passwords, update two-layer protection, not log in or access strange links.

An account with the nickname @ltianyi shared data of millions of Vietnamese Facebook users on the R.Forum around mid-November.

Accordingly, the data file contains the full UID (user identification code), residence and phone number of Vietnamese users. The data are confirmed to be completely true, matching the Facebook user information in real life.

 Data share article containing information of millions of Vietnamese Facebook users on R * forums. Photo: Kinhtedothi.vn

As reported by many Facebook users in Vietnam, they have repeatedly received notifications from Facebook updates in recent days, stating that their account was tagged by someone in a post.

The post attached a web link for downloading data, with striking content and images. These links were disguised as reputable online newspapers. When a user clicks on the links to continue to the website, their account would be stolen.

It is known that the R. Forum is where hackers operate, post, exchange, buy and sell stolen data. Earlier in March, personal information of more than 41 million Vietnamese Facebook users was distributed on this forum.

In addition to the basic information, the homeland, workplace, family, relatives and interests of Facebook users are displayed in detail. All this data were not encrypted.

Most of these leaks of users’ data stem from Facebook's security flaws. In September 2019, information of more than 419 million users of this social network was leaked from a server, including more than 50 million user accounts in Vietnam.

According to some cyber security experts, if personal data falls into the hands of nefarious organizations, users run the risk of becoming a victim of harassment or fraud. Hackers can take advantage of the published data to query other relevant personal information such as bank accounts, thereby making money transfers, spam, and blackmail.

Therefore, when using Facebook, users are advised to regularly change passwords, update two-layer protection, not log in or access strange links. Those are ways to help users be able to protect yourself against hacker attacks.