There are increasingly sophisticated scams targeting children and young people online. Therefore, on the afternoon of July 30, INTERPOL HQ organized the "Cyber Aware Webinar for Youth 2025" to raise awareness and self-protection skills for young people in cyberspace.
The workshop had the participation and sharing of many international experts.
Cyberspace is a double-edged sword.
Ms. Helena Yixin Huang, Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) of Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), pointed out a series of common forms of cybercrime today such as: creating fake accounts, impersonating relatives, friends or reputable organizations to deceive trust; stealing information, sending messages, emails containing malicious links; buying and selling credit, virtual products; money laundering through digital payment channels; trading stolen personal data,...
The consequences of falling into a cybercrime trap are extremely serious: loss of control over identity, stress, anxiety, shame, loss of confidence, and even direct impact on education, work, and finances. Photo: AI
According to Ms. Huang, cyberspace is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it helps us study, work, entertain, and connect globally. On the other hand, cyberspace is a fertile environment for bad guys to exploit and attack. In particular, students are the first and main targets.
"The two most typical cases of fraud among young people are related to money and love." Taking advantage of students' psychology of finding "easy work, high salary", many "ghost" companies have "revenue" with fraud. Female students are very susceptible to falling into the "love trap" of these subjects. When the feelings are deep enough, the subjects will lure them to invest in illegal projects, blackmail them with sensitive images,...." - Ms. Huang said.
Ms. Toni Friedman, Assistant Director for Digital Technology, Policy and Innovation at The Asia Foundation, emphasized the importance of user initiative.
According to Ms. Toni Friedman, AI-generated content checking tools are not yet completely accurate. Therefore, users need to be alert and self-censor all information online, and should not completely trust technology. Human vigilance and critical thinking are the best shields against increasingly sophisticated scams in the AI era.
From victim "hunter" to criminal "hunter"
At the conference, cyber security expert Ngo Minh Hieu (Hieu PC) frankly shared his mistakes. From his story, he hopes to warn young people to stay away from illegal actions.
Cybersecurity expert Ngo Minh Hieu warns students to avoid traps in cyberspace. Photo: FBNV
"At the age of 16, I joined the underground network, carrying out missions in cyberspace. The magic of money was so great that I ignored everything, I no longer focused on studying. After graduating from high school, I earned a decent amount of money, enough for me to study abroad" - expert Hieu PC said.
In 2013, Hieu PC was arrested by the US Secret Service and sentenced to 13 years in prison for stealing and selling personal information of more than 200 million Americans. In 2015, he was sentenced to 13 years in federal prison.
However, Hieu PC was released earlier than expected and returned to Vietnam in 2020. 3 months after his release, he joined the National Cyber Security and Monitoring Center, undertaking tasks related to digital investigation, investigating cybercrimes, and checking potentially leaked data.
"There are days when I earn 25,000 USD, but I never sleep well, always living in fear. Before, I "hunted" victims, but now I "hunt" criminals. I hope young people, especially those who love information technology, need to be careful, build the value of selling themselves and absolutely do not let themselves become victims of money" - expert Hieu PC advised.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/bai-hoc-xuong-mau-tu-chuyen-gia-cong-nghe-gui-gam-sinh-vien-196250730151737611.htm
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