Many people take advantage of cyberspace to lure and defraud students, Nghe An Department of Education warns
The recent scams, enticements, and enticements of students in some localities have raised concerns for both parents and students.
Warning from strange calls
The Department of Education and Training has just issued a warning document against the tricks of taking advantage ofcyberspaceto deceive, entice, and entice students.
Previously, information from the police and the Ministry of Education and Training showed that recently, in some provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Quang Ninh, and Ho Chi Minh City, there have been consecutive cases of people impersonating the police, the prosecutor's office, and the court calling to threaten and manipulate children and students, informing them that they are involved in a case under investigation. From there, they request that the family be notified to transfer ransom money under the name of "online kidnapping".
There was a particular case where a subject lured and guided children to travel from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to border localities to Cambodia for "tourism".
Specifically, the scammers will impersonate the police, the prosecutor's office, or the court, using strange phone numbers to call the victims (usually children or students) directly and make fabricated accusations (related to drugs, money laundering, wanted or having an arrest warrant from the prosecutor's office, the court, etc.) to create panic and loss of composure in the victims.
During the process, the subjects will manipulate the victim's psychology, ask the victim to keep it a secret, not tell anyone, force or instruct the victim to leave the place of residence and rent a place (motel, hotel) to live alone. Then instruct the victim to cut off contact with relatives and only contact the subjects (change the phone SIM, put the phone in airplane mode and use video call to contact the subjects from other applications). In addition, there are cases where the victim is threatened to provide sensitive images and clips to the subjects.
After deceiving the victim, the subjects can text or call the family directly to inform them that the victim is being kidnapped, threaten to cut off fingers, post sensitive photos and clips of the victim online or force the victim to contact their family and report being kidnapped to request money to be transferred to the victim's account or the group's account. After receiving the money, they cut off contact and leave the victim in a state of panic, and the family loses a large amount of property.
Equip yourself with safe internet usage skills
From the above situation, implementing Official Dispatch No. 4642/BGDĐT-HSSV dated August 8, 2025 of the Ministry of Education and Training on warning about criminal tricks of taking advantage of cyberspace to lure and entice students, the Department of Education and Training requests the People's Committees of wards, communes, and affiliated units to strengthen coordination with local police forces to organize propaganda and dissemination to cadres, teachers, employees, students and students' families about the above-mentioned methods and tricks of fraud.
In addition, it is necessary to discuss and share topics on trends, inevitability, benefits and risks of cyberspace, skills for safe network use; identify and handle complex problems when detected on cyberspace and other fraudulent methods and tricks via phone, Internet and social networks, aiming to appropriate property, sexual abuse (such as quick money lending via mobile phone applications, virtual currency exchanges, multi-level marketing, online games, lottery, gambling, football betting, investment fraud, love fraud, prize fraud and appropriation of social network accounts for fraud...).
At the same time, raise awareness, prevention skills and coordination responsibilities between schools, families and authorities in student management and education.
The Department also requires close coordination between schools, families and relevant local agencies and units in management, grasping the situation, promptly preventing and stopping the risk of fraud for students. Increase the exchange and sharing of information related to students with families to update the situation of students' absence without clear reasons, suspected of being taken advantage of by criminals using cyberspace to defraud, threaten, entice to appropriate property, sexually abuse...
During the implementation process, it is necessary to coordinate with the police force to make a list of students with difficult circumstances, showing signs of individuality, learning decline, truancy, complicated social interactions, and at risk of being exploited by criminals using cyberspace, luring them into committing crimes in order to deploy specific prevention work. In educational institutions, there should be phone numbers of the local police, ward/commune police chiefs, and hotlines of criminal on-duty officers so that if an incident occurs, there will be timely support and handling by the authorities.