On 22/6, Quang Ngai Provincial Police reported receiving a complaint from a woman in Tu Nghia district about being scammed out of money while registering her child for a summer camp through a Facebook advertisement.

Many scammers impersonate armed forces, running summer camp ads to defraud. *Photo: Quang Ngai Police*

According to the report, after clicking on the advertisement, the woman received information about the time and location and decided to register her child. Afterward, someone claiming to be an employee of the organizing unit contacted her, inviting her to purchase products with a reward from the sponsor.

Initially, she was instructed to purchase products with a small amount of money, which was then fully refunded along with the promised reward. Seeing the smooth transaction, she continued to perform the "tasks" with larger sums. As her investment increased, the scammer began claiming she had "made a mistake in the instructions" to refuse a refund, while demanding she transfer more money to fix the error and withdraw the reward.

Hoping to recover her money, she continued to transfer funds. After draining 2.7 billion VND from her account, the scammer ceased all contact.

Quang Ngai Provincial Police stated that recently, exploiting the demand for summer courses to hone skills and gain experience, many scammers have impersonated Police Academy and Military Summer Camps to defraud parents. "The province currently has no such programs this year. People need to be wary of impersonation and verify information from reputable sources," Quang Ngai Provincial Police warned.

Earlier in June, a woman in Ho Chi Minh City was also scammed out of nearly 4 billion VND when registering her child for a basketball class through a Facebook group. After transferring the scholarship registration fee, she was repeatedly tricked into depositing more money with reasons like "missing steps" and "not meeting the requirements." She only realized she had been scammed after the consulting switchboards stopped responding.

Ho Chi Minh City Police stated that scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, exploiting parents' concern for their children and their trust. People should absolutely not transfer money through social networks or unfamiliar applications without verifying the recipient's information.

Pham Linh