Nghe An Provincial Police announced on 2/12 that a 36-year-old man from Tan Phu commune was fined 7,5 million VND. The penalty was for illegally collecting, processing, and using personal information, stemming from his act of redirecting persistent debt collection calls to the Ministry of Public Security's (MPS) emergency hotline.

The 36-year-old man (right) working with police. *Photo: Police provided*.

The Ministry of Public Security's emergency hotline had been receiving numerous calls from financial companies and online loan applications. These calls significantly hampered the police's ability to receive and process crime reports. An investigation by the Internal Political Security Department of Nghe An Provincial Police confirmed that the 36-year-old man was responsible for these unauthorized call redirections.

The man explained that he purchased a new phone number and registered it in his name in 2/2024. However, the previous owner of the number had used it to secure loans from various financial companies and online applications. Consequently, he was subjected to a barrage of debt collection calls. Initially, he attempted to mitigate the disturbance by redirecting these calls to another number he no longer used.

Despite his efforts, the unsolicited calls continued. Driven by frustration, the man searched online for the Ministry of Public Security's emergency hotline number and subsequently redirected all incoming debt collection calls from his number to the official police line.

Nghe An Provincial Police emphasized that redirecting debt collection calls to a state agency's phone number disrupts official operations. Such actions can incur fines ranging from 10 million to 20 million VND for organizations and 5 million to 10 million VND for individuals, as stipulated under point e, clause 3, Article 102 of Decree 15/2020.