Warning about scholarship scams for international students

Vinh Universityjust issued a notice warning about scholarship scams for international students. Earlier, in the middle of this week, a first-year male student majoring in Automation Control Engineering at the school received an email notification about a student exchange program between Vinh University and Yale University in the US.

The content of this notice states that, based on the announcement of the US Embassy about the US Government granting scholarships to new students with good academic performance and good conduct of Vinh University and this student is eligible to enroll.

To make an impression, this announcement also clearly states that the exchange program will be 100% sponsored by the US Government, including round-trip international airfare, tuition, living expenses, and sightseeing fees during the entire study period. The itinerary will last 3 months and all remaining expenses will be supported by the school.

To participate in this program, students need to prepare a complete application and submit it to the school's Foreign Affairs Office. In addition, students must also have a financial statement with a minimum balance of 250 million VND in their bank account to make an electronic statement to compete with students from other majors. The announcement also requires students to complete the application, complete the application signing procedure, electronic statement and submit it to the Training Department of Vinh University before 2:00 p.m. on October 1, 2025.

It is known that after receiving this notice, the male student forwarded it to his mother and was warned by his mother that it was fake information. However, when the scammer called, the male student still believed it and then went to a hotel in Vinh city following the caller's instructions. While waiting, the student's family became suspicious and promptly stopped him, took the student out of the hotel and then reported to the school and the local police.

Later, when talking to the school, this student also said that even though he knew it was fake information, when he received a phone call, the subject said many things that made the listener blindly believe and follow the instructions.

Regarding this case, Mr. Nguyen Hong Soa - Head of Student Political Affairs Department, Vinh University said: Recently, the school has received information that some students have received fake documents from Vinh University regarding student exchange and international study abroad scholarships. Fraudsters use fake logos, seals, and signatures to invite students to register, request to submit documents and pay fees, in order to appropriate property and steal personal information. Among them, there are cases where students were tricked into paying hundreds of millions of VND but promptly reported to the school and were lucky not to become victims of fraudsters.

The school representative also confirmed that, up to this point, Vinh University does not have any scholarship programs for students as announced in the documents. The school's programs (if any) are posted on the school's official information pages. Therefore, students absolutely do not trust, do not transfer money, and do not provide personal information through unofficial channels.

In addition, when receiving suspicious information, it is necessary to immediately discuss with family, lecturers, school departments or functional departments or report to the nearest police station.