Software that allows people to bug private phone calls or text messages is now offered for sale on many websites. A man who sold the software has been recently arrested in HCM City.
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Where does the spy software come from?
According to IT experts, the software orginated in western countries. It is said that there are more than 200 companies trading spy phone software online, called Spy Mobile and Mobile Phone Spy, at a price of US$50-300. The service has become popular and for sale online like any other product.
Named SkyVCTel and CopyPhone, they are equipped with special features, including automatic startup at every phone boot, recording SMS messages sent or received and logging all incoming and outgoing phone calls.
Tran Hoach Chuyet Nhuynh, deputy head of the DTS Mobile Company in HCM City, said a person who wanted to access private activities of another installs the software in the victim’s mobile and it automatically informs the installer of the victim’s phone calls and SMS.
“Just simple acts, including call-back to the victim’s phone and all information from that mobile will be tapped but the victim knows nothing,” Nhuynh said. “Those who bug other’s phone calls can transfer the technology to other subscribers, which is very dangerous.”
Hoang Manh Cuong, deputy head of the CMC Telecom Company, said most kinds of mobile phones available in the market which use a Symbian S60 operating system can take the software. “It takes only 15 minutes to install the software in a mobile phone,” Cuong said.
Nguyen Minh Thuan, lawyer from the Sai Gon Viet Nam Hop Danh Law Firm, said the Criminal Code’s Article 125 states that bugging phone calls or SMS messages is illegal.
The punishment for violators ranges between VND1-5 million ($55-277) or three months to two years in jail, depending on the violation, Thuan said.
Nguyen Thanh Trung, representative of the Nam Truong Son Company, which supplies anti-virus software in Vietnam, said the company’s software Kaspersky Mobile Security was considered the most effective protection against spy software.
“When this anti-tap software is installed, it will prevent unwanted software from being installed in mobile phones,” Trung said.
Le Manh Ha, director of the HCM City’s Department of Information and Communications, said information should be publicised to raise people’s awareness of harmful software.
People should inform relevant authorities of those who trade bugging software and those who use it for inappropriate purposes, he said.
The first phone-spy software seller arrested
Pham Dinh Bao (white) at the police station.
Only three minutes are needed for someone to know the IMEI code of your mobile phone and such a time for tapping your phone that you will never know. Spy software is on sale on many websites at home and abroad, with attractive slogans like: ”secretly taking care of your family” or “getting information from your partner’s meeting”.
In the role of a businessman who needed phone-spy software to steal information from a rival, a Dat Viet newspaper reporter contacted a man selling spy software online.
The reporter called this man through a cell phone number he posted on the website. The man, who called himself Bao, said he was in Binh Duong (a southern province), so he couldn’t provide the thing immediately. He carefully asked the reporter’s name, his address, what does he do, etc.
“Police are cracking down so I have to be very careful,” Bao said. “Whenever I come back to HCM City, I will phone you.”
Several days later, the reporter called Bao, but he said: “I’ll call you when I’m ready.”
Around two weeks later, on July 8, Bao unexpectedly called the reporter, saying that he was in HCM City and made an appointment on July 9. “Remember to bring several million dong as a deposit!”
The reporter went to a café on Phan Dinh Giot street, HCM City at 3 pm, July 9. Around 30 minutes later, a young man in a white T-shirt appeared.
Introducing himself as Pham Dinh Bao, the man said he had been there for 30 minutes to observe the client. He confessed that he had never been in Binh Duong before; he lived in HCM City.
Bao said he is the director of Trinh Tham company, based on Le Binh road, HCM City. He said his company has a branch in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho and the spy-on-phone software was selling very well.
Bao showed two handheld phones, a Nokia N95 and a Nokia N70, and said: “The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) code of the Nokia N95 is managed by an overseas-based serve so all information about this phone is under control.”
To prove what he said is true, Bao sent a message from the Nokia N95 to the reporter cell phone. Immediately, the message jumped to the Nokia 70 (which was installed with the software to spy on the Nokia 95).
He said the reporter was “very lucky” to meet him. With this software, the client can easily collect information from the rival firm, provided that he has the IMEI of the phone of an official of the rival company.
Bao also said that this spy software works on around 50 models of cell phones, including Nokia N70, N71, N95, E50, E60, E61, E62; Samsung: D720, D730, I400, I450, I550, I560; LG: KT610, KT615, KS10 and other modern models.
The reporter mortgaged 1 million dong to get the spy software at the next meeting at a price of $1300.
According to Bao, the process is sending the IMEI of the handheld phone that the client wants to spy to him. He will then send this code to someone abroad to enter the code into the system of the software producer. This system will activate the available software in the phone to control information. Any incoming or outgoing calls or SMS messages from or to the handheld phone with the pilfered IMEI will be sent to the client. The client has to pay a yearly subscription fee of $20 and $1300 for activating the software.
Bao was arrested on July 10 by HCM City police. Searching his house, detectives seized documents related to the sale of the software. Bao confessed that he sold spy software at the price of US$1000-3000 to four people.
VietNamNet/VNS/Dat Viet/VNE/Lao Dong