After a stressful school year, many parents want their children to have a meaningful summer to recharge and prepare for the new school year. The ways many parents choose are to register their children to participate in activities such as experiencing military summer camps, participating in sports competitions, etc.
Taking advantage of this psychology, scammers have carried out sophisticated fraud campaigns to appropriate the assets of parents who want to register their children for summer extracurricular programs.
Below are two of the many common scams that many parents can easily fall into if they don't pay attention.
Summer camp scam for kids
Many parents often want their children to attend summer camps to help them learn life skills and develop independence.
Taking advantage of this, scammers have created fake Facebook accounts with names such as "Summer Military Experience", "Aviation Career Camp"... and run ads on Facebook and Google to reach many parents in need.
A Facebook ad for a summer camp (Screenshot).
But in fact, this is a Facebook page that was renamed in early May from an unrelated Facebook page (Screenshot).
When parents contact these fake Facebook pages, scammers will advise them to “do tasks” to receive incentives such as summer camp discounts, valuable gifts from the organizers or request to transfer deposits…
When participating in a “mission,” scammers may entice victims to deposit money in advance, then offer more money if they can recruit more people to join the summer camp.
The posts on this Facebook page were only posted recently (May 8), but the Facebook page owner intentionally set the time to 2024 to increase credibility, as if the page had been active for a long time (Screenshot).
Additionally, scammers may also ask parents to scan QR codes to join groups to receive notifications or new updates about the program… but in fact, when scanning the QR code, users may be tricked into downloading applications containing malicious code to take control of the device.
After users transfer deposits to register for summer camps, scammers block all communication to seize assets.
More seriously, if users accidentally install malware on their smartphones, hackers can break into bank accounts to withdraw all the money or steal personal information stored on the phone.
Taking advantage of the psychology of parents wanting to register their children for summer camp early, scammers often offer short-term promotions or create a sense of urgency by limiting the number of participants in the summer camp, which will make parents quickly transfer money to scammers for fear of running out of places.
Hue City Police issued a warning about the "Military Summer Camp" scam (Screenshot).
To avoid falling victim to this scam, parents should call or contact reputable schools and summer camp organizers directly to inquire and verify information. Only register and pay for summer camps directly, do not register or transfer money online.
Absolutely do not provide personal information, do not follow other people's instructions via social media messages or phone calls, to avoid being tricked by bad guys into installing malicious applications to infiltrate your phone, steal information and appropriate property.
Online Cycling Competition Scam
In recent days, many Facebook users in Vietnam have come across an advertisement for an online cycling competition for children.
Specifically, on the Facebook page called “Kids Cycling Competition”, an article was posted introducing a cycling competition for children aged 4 to 17, along with attractive prizes.
According to the Facebook page's advertisement, contestants will be given smart watches to record the distance they have cycled, from which contestants will receive cash prizes if they reach the 40 km, 50 km or 60 km milestone after a certain number of days.
In addition, each participant who cycles 1 km will contribute 5,000 VND to the scholarship fund for disabled children.
An advertisement for an online cycling competition with attractive prizes has many people falling into its trap (Screenshot).
To increase the prestige of the contest, this Facebook page also confirmed that this contest is sponsored by the Vietnam Cycling Federation and a company specializing in selling smart watches for children.
Because of the attractive gifts and prizes and the simple way to win, many parents quickly contacted to register for the contest. However, in reality, this is a Facebook page created for the purpose of fraud.
After registering for the contest, parents will be contacted by a “consultant” and asked to deposit between 2 and 3 million VND to receive a gift, with a commitment to refund the money within 2 to 3 minutes. Many people have paid the deposit and indeed received their money back as promised.
At this point, the “consultant” began asking parents to pay a larger amount of money to reserve their place in the competition, with the promise of “a refund,” of course.
However, when parents pay more money, the other side will use the excuse that the system is faulty and cannot refund the money, and ask parents to transfer more money to reactivate the refund process.
Many gullible people continue to pay more money without realizing that they have become victims of scammers. When they realize, the amount they have paid to the scammers is very large. At this point, the scammers will block all communication with the victim.
In addition to the Facebook page "Kids For Bike", some Facebook pages with other names such as "Kids For Bike - Cycling Challenge for Children" or "Kids Bicycle Competition"... also have similar scams.
Currently, both the company that sells smart watches for children and the Vietnam Cycling Federation have denied any involvement in sponsoring these cycling competitions, while warning about scams in the form of cycling competitions for children.
***
Above are two forms of online fraud aimed at appropriating assets targeting parents. Users need to be aware to avoid becoming victims of fraudsters. In case of being scammed and losing assets, it is necessary to immediately report the incident to the authorities for support.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/cong-nghe/nhung-chieu-lua-chiem-doat-tai-san-nham-vao-phu-huynh-trong-dip-nghi-he-20250529033216643.htm
Comment (0)