Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issues warning about student fraud

ILLUSTRATION: DAO NGOC THACH

On the evening of August 12, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training issued a notice asking parents and students to be vigilant and schools to strengthen measures to protect students. It specifically warned against student fraud involving the form of "online kidnapping" that has been noted by the police in recent times.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, recently, some parents whose children are in high school have reported to the department after continuously receiving fraudulent calls, claiming to be from the People's Committee, the Police, and the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training, asking students to follow instructions.

Specifically, these scammers impersonated admissions officers, asked students to open a video call and make friends via Zalo to send documents from the Department of Education and Training. When committing the scam, the subjects stated the correct address of the City People's Committee, the City Department of Education and Training, along with personal information, school address, class... of the students.

There was also a situation where a person impersonated a member of the City Police Department, and the student's ID number was known and taken advantage of by a bad person, who asked them to go to the police station immediately to resolve the matter. The subject also provided accurate information about the parents' names, home address, ID number, etc.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training warns and recommends that all parents and students be vigilant and not listen to or follow instructions from strange phone numbers. Parents and students should not follow the requests of strangers. All information is communicated through the school's official channels and through homeroom teachers to parents and students directly.

At the same time, the HCM City Department of Education and Training requested schools to strengthen measures to protect students; regularly communicate and remind students and parents to be vigilant. Absolutely keep personal information confidential, and advise parents and students not to post personal information on social networks.

Also today, the Ministry of Education and Training issued a document warning about the tricks of criminal gangs, who take advantage of cyberspace to "kidnap students online" and then ask their families to transfer ransom money.

The Ministry of Education and Training said that, according to information from the Criminal Police Department ( Ministry of Public Security ), recently, in some provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City... there have been consecutive cases of subjects impersonating the police force, the prosecutor's office, the court, calling to threaten and manipulate students' psychology, saying they are involved in a case under investigation, then asking their families to transfer ransom money with a trick called " online kidnapping ".