Study abroad scholarship scam: Ton Duc Thang University documents, seal... Ministry of Education and Training

To complete the application for a scholarship to study abroad, students are required by the university to urgently provide financial proof. With this method, some people have been tricked into paying hundreds of millions of dong in fees to participate in the scholarship program.

Fake document of Ton Duc Thang University but with seal of Ministry of Education and Training

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Ton Duc Thang University Scholarship for students from other schools

Today (June 2), a reader reported to Thanh Nien Newspaper a document announcing the Ton Duc Thang University scholarship program for the 2025-2026 school year. The document shows the name and logo of Ton Duc Thang University, and the document was sent to the Board of Directors, the Training Department, and the units under Ton Duc Thang University. However, the person who signed the document was the Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Education and Training) and used the seal of the Ministry of Education and Training.

This document states: "Ton Duc Thang University Scholarship Fund was established in 2003, with the desire to support students in Vietnam in terms of both material and spiritual aspects to develop their professional skills. Up to now, the fund has expanded and cooperated with many branches of universities in many other countries including: Singapore, China, Japan, Korea, USA, Russia, Australia, Germany, Canada and Vietnam".

The document stated: "In the second semester of the 2024-2025 school year, the fund awarded 186 scholarships to students from different schools based on their academic performance and eligibility, with a total value of VND 52,985,350,000. In the 2025-2026 school year, the school will continue to move forward with young people with achievements at the schools through its 47th scholarship period. Notably, starting from this scholarship period, the scholarship value will double and be awarded twice at the end of each semester in the 2025-2026 school year. The first period will be awarded based on the interview and application selection process, the second period will be awarded based on the academic results of the first period."

Notably, although it is a scholarship fund of Ton Duc Thang University, it is awarded to students from many schools including: University of Industry, University of Architecture, Ton Duc Thang University, University of Transport, University of Banking. The value of each scholarship is up to 950 million VND for students from faculties and majors on the list; 450 million VND for students from faculties and majors not on the list.

However, the application procedure and documents require students on the list to demonstrate financial capacity in accordance with current Singapore Government regulations when completing the application. In particular, students must complete the application before 6pm on June 2 so that the scholarship results will be announced on June 5.

Along with receiving this notification, the student said that he received a call and a text message from a lecturer at Ton Duc Thang University, asking the student to perform operations to prove his financial status. This person continuously urged the student to take a screenshot of the account balance to send via Zalo.

However, information from Ton Duc Thang University said that the above document was not issued by the school. Previously, in March, the school had to warn students about the situation of some individuals and organizations forging documents, signatures and seals of the school in recruiting students for exchange abroad and collecting money, in order to provide false information causing misunderstanding and affecting the rights of students as well as the reputation of the school. This warning from the school also stated: "Students need to be careful, only receive information from the school's official channels to avoid being scammed or accessing inaccurate information."

The scammer continuously sent messages urging the student to prove his/her qualifications or he/she would be replaced.

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Ministry of Education and Training: Some people were tricked into paying hundreds of millions of dong in fees

Regarding this incident, on May 30, the Ministry of Education and Training sent a document to the Departments of Education and Training and university and college training institutions warning about fraud in participating in international student exchange and study abroad programs.

The document, signed by Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation (Ministry of Education and Training) Nguyen Hai Thanh, stated: "Recently, many forms of fraud have appeared related to student exchange programs, international summer camps, and study abroad scholarships. Fraudsters often use sophisticated tricks such as impersonatingeducational institutions, state agencies, or setting up fake websites and social network accounts to invite students to register to participate, asking participants to provide personal information, submit applications, and pay fees to steal information and appropriate the victims' assets. Currently, there are citizens who have been tricked into paying fees to participate in study abroad scholarship programs of up to hundreds of millions of VND."

Therefore, in order to proactively prevent and stop fraudulent acts and protect the legitimate rights of learners, the Ministry of Education and Training requests that the Departments of Education and Training and training institutions provide warnings and information to students about fraudulent acts related to student exchange programs and international scholarships through the school's official communication channels; Recommend that students look up information on scholarships and study abroad from official sources.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lua-dao-hoc-bong-du-hoc-van-ban-truong-dh-ton-duc-thang-con-dau-bo-gd-dt-185250602190922237.htm