From the case of a student being scammed out of billions: Absorbed in surfing the internet for entertainment, young people easily become 'prey'

Instead of being too absorbed in endless entertaining videos on Tiktok and Facebook, young people need to equip themselves with useful knowledge to avoid becoming victims of scams.

Many people are scammed online with the same scenario and method - Photo: TT

Article: A student in Ho Chi Minh City was scammed online for 1.1 billion VND on Tuoi Tre Online reminds me of a story of a freshman, which happened not long ago.

You were scammed out of all the money in your account because you thought the scammer was someone you knew and more importantly because of the promised gift.

Being cheated on but not daring to tell parents

The origin of the scam started when this student received a messenger message from a female student in the same faculty, discussing a gift package for students worth several million VND.

To receive the gift, you must provide a lot of important information: Phone number, ID card, bank account and OTP code.

Hearing this, I sighed: That's it. With all this information, the scammer can easily take all the money from your account.

And right after taking all the money from the account, the scammer blocked this student's Facebook and messenger.

The truth is that a senior student's Facebook account was hacked and the scammer used her name to scam many people.

Anyone who is alert will not fall into the trap, but this freshman was easily fooled just because he believed he was an acquaintance.

I asked the student: The press published information warning about online fraud, and the Ministry of Public Security even sent text messages to everyone's phone number many times, emphasizing not to provide OTP codes to anyone. Have you never read it?

Yes, I read it, my parents also reminded me but I don't think I was fooled, moreover she is an acquaintance so I believed her!

In the end, the student had to accept that the money had fallen into the scammer's pocket, considering it an expensive tuition fee for protecting his own bank account.

You dare not tell your parents, nor the police because you have no hope of getting back the lost money.

Beware of 3 common scams

According to the 2024 cybersecurity research and survey report released by the National Cyber ​​Security Association on December 16, 2024, online fraud continues to rage, causing serious consequences for hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese users in 2024.

One in every 220 smartphone users in Vietnam has fallen victim to fraud. Vietnamese people lost VND18,900 billion to fraud in 2024.

The forms of attacks on users by scammers are very diverse and sophisticated.

Of which, the 3 most popular forms in 2024 include:

1. Luring users into participating in fake investment schemes, promising high profits.

2. Impersonating an agency or organization.

3. Fraudulent announcement of winning prizes and big promotions.

The reality is that the number of victims of fraud is large, but the number of people who can get their money back is very small.

The number of victims of online fraud is increasing and is probably just the tip of the iceberg because not everyone who is scammed and loses money reports it to the authorities. My student friend is one of the many who was scammed but did not report it.

Authorities and the press have continuously warned about high-tech crimes and the problem of fraud and property appropriation via cyberspace, but many people are still not vigilant and greedy, so they fall into the trap of criminals.

The school and teachers have discussed and warned during civic weeks and class hours, but perhaps that is still not enough. The number of victims keeps increasing, including many first-year students who are just starting out in life.

Instead of being too absorbed in endless entertaining videos on Tiktok and Facebook, young people need to equip themselves with useful knowledge to avoid becoming victims of scams. Be alert to strange messages, calls, websites and links.

It is necessary to "slow down" to verify information, and at the same time do not provide any important information such as citizen identification, bank account, social network account.

Never believe that unexpected gifts worth millions come easily, because no one gives anything to anyone for free.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tu-vu-sinh-vien-bi-lua-dao-tien-ti-mai-me-luot-mang-giai-tri-gioi-tre-de-tro-thanh-con-moi-20250120090907362.htm