Equipping students with knowledge to combat online fraud.

In the digital age, cyberspace opens up endless opportunities for learning, exploration, and creativity, but it also harbors many risks for individuals, especially young people, students, and university students, as online scams are increasingly rampant with sophisticated and unpredictable tactics. This situation highlights the urgent need to equip students and university students with self-defense and situation-handling skills to protect themselves.

The program "Enhancing Fraud Prevention and Control Skills Education for Students" at Hong Duc University.

Recently, in several provinces and cities across the country, there have been incidents of individuals impersonating police, prosecutors, and court officials, making threatening phone calls and manipulating students. Students have been receiving notifications related to ongoing investigations, demanding ransom payments from their families under the guise of "online kidnapping." Many students have fallen victim to these elaborate scams, ranging from promises of easy jobs with high salaries, online loans, prize draws, free gifts, and virtual investments—all aimed at ultimately defrauding them financially. To prevent these fraudulent activities, the education sector has issued a warning about the tactics used by criminals exploiting cyberspace to lure and deceive students; and has requested educational institutions to strengthen awareness campaigns to prevent such crimes among their students.

In response to the above requirements, Hong Duc University has intensified its propaganda efforts through various forms to equip students with knowledge and skills for self-defense and handling situations, such as: integrating content on identifying scams, security skills, and safe use of social media into the Student Orientation Week at the beginning of the semester and in each semester; organizing regular thematic workshops in coordination with functional departments of the Provincial Police to help students understand and identify new scam tactics early. In addition, the university's functional departments such as the Student Affairs Office, the Youth Union, the Student Association, and the training faculties all utilize the university's communication channels (website,

fanpage, Zalo, etc.) to promptly warn a large number of students about fraudulent schemes.

In particular, the school recently organized a program titled "Enhancing Anti-Fraud Skills Education for Students," with the participation of nearly 150 students. The program disseminated information on current forms of online fraud; common scam scenarios targeting students; essential recognition and defense skills; and procedures for quickly handling suspected fraud situations. Through real-life stories and vivid hypothetical scenarios, students experienced the feeling of being scammed in a safe environment, thereby learning valuable lessons. Furthermore, they were guided on how to distinguish fake news, identify fraudulent calls, messages, and emails, and the procedures for reporting and handling incidents. Nguyen Bao Ngoc, a K27 student from the English Language Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hong Duc University, shared: “The program has helped me gain more practical and useful knowledge about online safety. Through the lecturer's presentation, I have a clearer understanding of the importance of protecting personal data, being vigilant against online scams, and using social media responsibly. I will spread positive information and proactively improve my knowledge to become a safe and civilized digital citizen. I also hope that programs like this will be widely organized in high schools throughout the province.”

Along with Hong Duc University, other universities and colleges in the province, such as the University of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Thanh Hoa Medical College, have also focused on organizing thematic workshops and strengthening online awareness campaigns to improve students' skills in preventing and combating fraud. This shows that life skills education is being considered by higher education institutions as a task alongside knowledge training.

In reality, online fraud is not just a financial issue but also a threat to the safety, trust, and morale of students. Meanwhile, children, students, and university students are particularly vulnerable and need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to protect themselves online. Therefore, implementing solutions to help students strengthen their "digital resilience" should be identified as a key priority. This is both an immediate and long-term task to help them improve their ability to protect themselves from online risks. However, along with schools, the prerequisite for defeating online fraud schemes remains that each student and university student must raise their own awareness, use the internet intelligently, responsibly, and ethically to avoid becoming victims of technological "traps."

Text and photos: Le Phong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/trang-bi-kien-thuc-cho-sinh-vien-nbsp-truc-van-nan-lua-dao-truc-tuyen-271487.htm