Sophisticated scams lurk during exam season, what to do to avoid them?

Countless sophisticated scams targeting parents and students

According to the police, the scammers have created detailed scenarios, using voice and image impersonation technology, creating websites, and branded messages (brandnames) identical to those of authorities and schools to lure victims. The goal is not only to steal money but also to illegally collect sensitive personal data, posing many complex risks to security and order in the province.

Through monitoring the situation on cyberspace, the Police Agency has compiled a number of common scams that criminals often use during exam season as follows:

Selling “real exam questions”, “100% accurate answers”: On forums and social networking groups such as Facebook, Zalo, Telegram, there are many fake accounts posting advertisements with information about “leaked 2025 high school exam questions”, “standard answers for each question”, “VIP cheat sheets guaranteeing high scores”. The prices for these “items” range from several hundred thousand to tens of millions of VND. Many students, due to pressure on their scores, or a subjective mentality, wanting to “take shortcuts”, do not hesitate to spend money. However, after transferring money, these subjects often block contact, disappear or send back worthless documents, even exam questions from previous years.

Opening “ghost” online exam preparation courses: With attractive advertisements such as “100% pass guarantee”, “guarantee the minimum score of TOP schools”, “top exam preparation experts”, scammers attract students to register for online courses. After students pay tuition, they may only send a few sketchy documents, copied from many sources, or even not provide any documents, classes and cut off all communication.

Fraudulent “increasing scores” and “buying a place” in university : This is a particularly dangerous trick, preying on the desperate psychology of candidates with unsatisfactory exam results or parents who want their children to “secure a place” in prestigious schools. The scammers claim to have “connections” or “relatives” in the education sector, and are able to intervene, “increase scores” on exams or “buy” a place in the desired university at a huge cost, which can be up to hundreds of millions of dong. Of course, these are just empty promises to defraud and appropriate property.

Impersonating education officials, school staff to "support" in making documents, reviewing exams: This is not a new trick but still makes many people fall into the trap. Fraudsters call, send SMS, Zalo, email messages claiming to be officials of the Department of Education and Training, admissions staff of universities, colleges, even homeroom teachers. Then, they notify of "urgent" errors in the application, threaten that the application may be rejected, request to immediately provide the Citizen ID number, bank OTP code or transfer an amount of money called "urgent processing fee", "application completion fee". More sophisticatedly, bad guys also send fake links to the website interface of the Ministry of Education and Training , schools, requesting login for the purpose of collecting personal information.

Equip yourself with the skills to avoid falling victim to high-tech scams.

In the context of increasingly sophisticated and unpredictable cybercrime, each individual needs to become the “first shield” to protect themselves. Cyber security is not only the responsibility of the authorities, but also a vital ability in the digital age.

In order to avoid becoming a victim of high-tech fraud during the graduation exam season in particular and other exams in general, the Police Department recommends: Parents and students need to carefully verify all information, all official announcements related to the high school exam are widely published on the Electronic Information Portal of the Ministry of Education and Training, the websites of local Departments of Education and Training, or official fanpages with a blue tick. When receiving any suspicious information, contact the homeroom teacher, school board or hotline of educational agencies directly for verification.

Parents and students should not provide their Citizen Identification Number, date of birth, phone number, home address, bank account information, OTP code to anyone via phone, text message, email if their identity and purpose have not been verified. Be extremely careful when clicking on strange links, do not download attachments of unknown origin;

Never transfer money to strangers or to unclear requests, regardless of the reason related to "completing documents", "depositing to hold a place", "buying VIP documents".

If you detect or suspect signs of fraud, or unfortunately become a victim, parents/students should calmly collect all evidence (text messages, phone numbers, bank account information of the subject, transaction history...) and immediately report to the nearest police agency for timely support.

Minh Trang

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/lua-dao-tinh-vi-rinh-rap-mua-thi-lam-gi-de-phong-tranh-post548677.html