Fraudulent recruitment

Scammers have created websites, and Zalo and email groups, introducing themselves as units belonging to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) to provide wrong information and fake images in order to appropriate people’s assets.

The scammers show ads on recruitment of high ranking officers for schools and try to convince people to make financial contributions to a welfare fund for children in highland areas, and promise those who participate in the programs that they will be recruited to work in certain units belonging to MOET.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that it has not cooperated with anyone, and has not authorized any unit to receive dossiers from people to participate in these programs.

AIS has recommended that people be cautious when handling unofficial information. They should not follow instructions given by strangers, and not contact websites/fanpages that post content about recruitment. People must not provide personal information.

Fake projects

A woman in Hanoi has reported that she was tricked out of VND1.4 billion by an acquaintance. The acquaintance invited her to invest in a project called Vinpearl and open an account by opening the URL “vinpearl1.vingroupsvn.com”. 

After following the instructions, opening an investment account, and transferring VND1.4 billion to the accounts provided, the victim found that she could not withdraw money though she was told that her investment had brought profits and was asked to pay more money.

According to AIS, in this case, the scammer carried out a highly methodical fraud. At first, the scammer built a friendship to gain the victim’s confidence. When they became closer to each other, the scammer enticed the victim to invest in a bogus project.

To prevent fraud, people need to be cautious when establishing relations with other people via social networks. It is necessary to identify the people who want to make friends by learning about them, asking them to provide information about addresses and phone numbers; and asking them for a direct meeting, if necessary.

People have been advised to question about requests to remit money and make financial investments. Particularly, they should refuse to provide information about their bank accounts.

Investment in securities, cryptocurrencies

AIS reported that appropriating properties by enticing people to invest in international securities and cryptocurrencies is getting more popular. Scammers organize seminars where they advertise investments in international securities with very high profitability.

In general, scammers request people and investors to transfer money to given accounts before making transactions, explaining that the money is a registration fee or deposit. When realizing that people cannot remit more money, scammers neutralize the accounts and block contacts to appropriate the money that victims have transferred.

AIS said it would be better for people to seek consultancy and advices from experts, lawyers and experienced investors before making investments, as well as keep wary of any invitations to make financial investments that offer high profits.

Numbers betting

The Yen Dinh district Police have completed its investigation and arrested the individuals who swindled and appropriated people’s properties via numbers betting, which is gambling based on lottery results, now very common in Vietnam, especially in rural areas.

Scammers established many fake Facebook accounts and posted articles impersonating leaders of the Northern Lottery Company, saying that they know the lottery results before they are officially announced and can intervene in lucky draws. They can provide the information to help people win lotteries. 

Police said that no one can get lottery results before they are officially announced and no one can interfere with lucky draws.  

The canhbao.khonggianmang.vn, a system run by AIS, reported that in 2023 alone, the agency received 17,400 complaints about online fraud. The Ministry of Public Security reported that agencies took criminal proceedings against scammers in 1,500 cases where victims were tricked out of VND8-10 trillion.

There are 26 forms of online scams, which mostly target students, low-income earners, parents and older people. Financial fraud accounts for 73 percent of the scams.

Van Anh