Beware of the 'easy work, high salary' trap during the summer that is set online, don't let your child become the next victim

Many pitfalls

On the afternoon of July 6, 2025, on social networks, urgent information appeared from relatives searching for two biological sisters living in Xuan Lam commune, Nghe An province, who went missing after going to Hanoi to find extra work. The incident attracted public attention and was widely shared.

Previously, on the evening of July 3, NTH (grade 11) and her younger sister NTN (grade 9) searched online and saw a restaurant in Hanoi posting a job posting. After that, H and N asked their families to let them go to Hanoi to work. However, after taking the bus to Hanoi, their families were unable to contact them.

It is worth mentioning that after that, the family received several calls asking for money to pick up the children, and a lot of confusing information, sometimes reporting that the children had gone to Nuoc Ngam bus station to return home, sometimes reporting that they were in Thai Binh province (old), now Hung Yen province.

Suspecting that their children had been kidnapped, their families posted information on social media for help. Immediately after the information about the two children suspected of being kidnapped was widely shared on social media, Xuan Lam Commune Police reported to the Nghe An Provincial Police Department for direction. Immediately after that, Nghe An Provincial Police and many local agencies, departments and branches also got involved, contacting authorities in Hanoi City and Hung Yen Province (where the children were last located) to request help in the search.

After a strong intervention, with the cooperation of Hanoi City Police and Hung Yen Province Police, on the night of July 6, the authorities identified the area where the children were staying. Immediately afterwards, the authorities took the children to the nearest police station, and during the night, the children were taken to the home of an acquaintance in Hanoi. By the afternoon of July 7, the children were safely returned to their hometown.

According to NTH, after the summer break, H went to Hanoi first and found a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant. Then N also went online and found job information at another restaurant. After discussing working together for the remaining summer months, H returned from Hanoi to his hometown and picked up N to go with him.

However, after arriving at the restaurant at the above address, the two sisters were picked up by a group of people waiting there and told to meet the owner. After that, the two sisters were taken to another location and had all their phones confiscated, and finally taken to Thai Binh city (old), not to work right in Hanoi as advertised online.

Also during this time, the police of Thach Xuan commune (Ha Tinh) promptly stopped an 18-year-old citizen, named H, who was lured from leaving home to go to the northern provinces to do "easy work, high salary".

Previously, on the evening of July 6, H's family went to the Commune Police for help when their son, who had just finished his high school graduation exam, booked a bus ticket to the northern provinces to find a job. It is worth noting that H showed many strange signs. When the family asked H where he was going or what he was doing, he did not say anything.

Realizing that the incident had many unusual points, Thach Xuan Commune Police quickly coordinated with H's family and the bus company where H booked the ticket, promptly stopped H from leaving and took her home.

During the process of working with the police, H said that he looked for a job on Facebook and contacted an advertisement post. A group of people online advised him and introduced him to jobs in the Northern provinces with promises of "easy work, high salary", good living conditions, shuttle service, overtime and high bonuses.

After H agreed, the group of people continuously urged him to take a bus to the North for a job interview. When H said he did not have enough money to pay for the bus fare, the group quickly transferred half of the fare to H because they "felt sorry for him". Fortunately, H was picked up by his family afterwards.

Need to raise vigilance

It can be seen that the above incidents are not new, once again sounding a strong warning bell about job fraud on social networks.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hieu, from Xuan Lam commune, currently living and working in Hanoi, who followed the clues and coordinated with the police to find the two sisters H and N in the above story, said: Through the process of searching for the children, it shows that the story of them being deceived is well-founded.

Because after finding the recruitment information online, the students contacted the phone number attached to it, but it was not the business owner's phone number, but actually the phone number and image uploaded by the brokerage groups. When they arrived at the above address, these subjects came to pick them up and take them to another place to work.

Through the journey to find the children, Mr. Hieu learned that there was a job brokerage company (near the children's first destination in Hanoi) that was the unit that led them to Hung Yen. It is worth mentioning that this company is located in a deep alley and has many suspicious points. Currently, the police force is continuing to investigate to clarify.

Mr. Le Dinh Thanh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Xuan Lam Commune said: After the incident of two children H and N being scammed when they went to Hanoi to find part-time jobs, the locality has directed the Youth Union to increase propaganda for students, teenagers and young people to clearly recognize the sophisticated tricks of scammers under the guise of job recruitment. At the same time, create more playgrounds for children to experience during the summer break.

In fact, Vietnamese law has relatively complete provisions to protect underage workers. Specifically, according to Article 145 of the 2019 Labor Code, underage workers are only allowed to do work that is suitable for their health to ensure physical, mental and personality development; Employers of underage workers are responsible for taking care of employees in terms of labor, health and study during the working process; When employing underage workers, employers must have the consent of their parents or guardians...

However, in recent times, many children and students have fallen into the trap of "easy work, high salary" recruitment by professional scammers. According to warnings from the police, the trick of posting "easy work, high salary" recruitment ads is not new. This is a common trick of illegal recruitment scammers and labor brokers. After luring their "prey", they will force the victims to work at disguised karaoke bars, beer bars, or even send them abroad. If the victims do not comply, they will be beaten, tortured and forced to pay ransom...

To solve this situation, it requires synchronous and drastic coordination from many sides. In particular, families need to manage, raise vigilance, and not relax the management of their children during the summer. Schools, especially middle and high schools, need to organize propaganda and provide guidance on fraud identification skills. Local authorities and local police need to strengthen inspection and supervision of the activities of unlicensed job brokerage centers...

In addition, the authorities also need to promptly investigate and strictly handle the scammers. Avoid waiting until the children are scammed or kidnapped to investigate, as the consequences will be unpredictable.