Beware of all kinds of scams during admissions season
Bad guys often call and text parents to inform them about tuition refunds, early school enrollment, etc.
Recently, bad guys have been calling and texting parents to inform them about tuition refunds, early enrollment, or adjusting registration information for the 2025 high school graduation exam. It is worth mentioning that some "gullible" parents followed the instructions and then had their bank accounts hacked (illegally accessed) to steal money.
Lost money because of "clicking" on strange links
On May 6, the homeroom teachers of 12th grade classes at Hiep Binh High School (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) recorded that 5 parents reported that strangers impersonated school staff, informed that the students' high school graduation exam registration information was incorrect, and that their citizen identification needed to be updated to level 2 to supplement their records and urgent procedures within the day. After that, the subject asked the parents to contact the phone number provided and introduced themselves as a police officer from the ward to assist in correcting the information.
A worried parent followed suit and called the phone number provided. Immediately after, another person claiming to be a police officer instructed the parent to set up a level 2 citizen ID for their child by accessing the link sent by the subject. When the parent clicked on the link and followed the facial scanning request, all the money was deducted from their bank account. At this point, the parent realized they had been scammed.
Ms. Vo Thi Binh Minh - Vice Principal of Hiep Binh High School said that the impersonator said the correct name, school, and class of the student, which made parents easily trust him. Along with the anxiety about their children's high school graduation exam, parents may follow the bad guy's request. A parent was robbed of about 10 million VND. Immediately after that, in addition to informing the school, the parent reported to the police.
“The school immediately sent an urgent notice to each parent of grade 12 students to warn them about this form of fraud, and at the same time, advised them not to follow any requests from strangers related to the High School Graduation Exam. All instructions and editing of student information are carried out directly by the school and discussed with students and parents through homeroom teachers,” Ms. Binh Minh emphasized.
In mid-April 2025, regarding the enrollment of students for the 2025-2026 school year, some subjects impersonated school administrators and called parents with the reason of "requesting confirmation of level 2 identification codes for students" to serve the enrollment work. They asked parents to provide personal information via strange links, thereby appropriating bank accounts and e-wallets, causing financial losses.
A month earlier, many parents in Ho Chi Minh City had also received calls and text messages asking them to file tuition refund applications according to the Politburo’s regulations. These people claimed to be education department or school staff. Some parents followed suit and lost their money.
Raise awareness
Fraudsters always change the contact content: Tuition refund, early enrollment or adjusting high school graduation exam information.
Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc - Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City said that the department has informed the Department of Education and Training of districts, Thu Duc City and schools about this fraud phenomenon, requesting the unit to review and grasp the situation to promptly detect and prevent it.
“Regarding the enrollment work at the beginning of this year, kindergartens and primary schools in the city are responsible for ensuring that all final year students have identification codes and verifying identification data with the national population database (except in special cases).
For 6-year-old children who have not yet attended preschool, the People's Committee of Thu Duc City, districts and towns will direct the People's Committees of wards and communes to coordinate with the police of wards and communes to collect and review information about actual residence, update the list on the system and notify parents to confirm," said Mr. Quoc.
From the school's perspective, the principal and teachers have proactively promoted and advised parents to be vigilant against strange calls and messages. Ms. Vu Thi Hong Chau - Principal of Phuoc Long High School said that through flag-raising and class activities, the school and teachers always remind students not to install applications of unknown origin and not to provide personal information to strangers. Students are educated to understand the tricks of online fraud.
“In particular, through the class parent group, the homeroom teacher advised parents not to provide personal information, bank accounts or perform any operations following instructions from unclear calls or messages to avoid being scammed. It emphasized that all information related to the entrance exam or the 2025 High School Graduation Exam will be clearly announced to students and parents by the school and homeroom teachers through official channels,” Ms. Chau emphasized.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Lien (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) has 2 children entering 6th and 10th grade this year. She received calls at least twice from a phone number from a person claiming to be a ward official and informing her that the identification code of the child preparing to participate in the entrance exam for the first grade was missing.
After that, the subject asked to update the information via the link provided by this person. However, because she clearly understood the information about enrollment from the school and had taken steps to verify the information on the primary enrollment page according to the teacher's instructions, she was always wary of strange calls./.
