The outdated 2G system on phones contains many vulnerabilities and has been exploited by hackers to scam users for many years, especially impersonation scams.

A message impersonating the bank brandname

Google's warning issued at the beginning of the month pointed out the limitation of 2G is the lack of authentication between mobile devices and the network. Thieves take advantage of this vulnerability to interrupt communications and send fraudulent messages...

In Vietnam, from September 16, older phones that only use 2G waves (brick phones) will not be able to use. However, the network operator still maintains 2G waves for smartphones until September 2026. If 2G signals are not turned off on these phones, bad guys can still send fraudulent SMS messages.

Therefore, if not needed, users should turn off 2G connection on their mobile devices.

For Android phones: go to Settings -> Network & Internet -> SIM Card -> Turn off 2G connection.

Because the iPhone does not provide the option to disable the 2G network, users can turn on "lock mode", but this will significantly limit many other features of the iPhone.

Bkav