Repeating online recruitment scams

Loss of money to activate a working account

In early October 2025, Nguyen Thi Linh (a second-year student at a university in Hanoi) accidentally read a post about the admission "at home, high salary" on social media. The article seems very believable: There is a company logo, professional language, and promises to earn from 300,000 to 500,000 VND per day with just a few hours of work.

The female student needed money to pay for tuition, so she was not a bit suspicious and texted to apply for a job immediately. The employer replied very quickly, introducing that the job only requires typing back available documents, no experience is required. However, to "activate a working account", Linh had to pay a "guarantee fee" of 200,000 VND in advance.

After submitting, Linh was added to a chat group with more than a hundred people. The team's manager repeatedly urged the members to "make quick cards to receive rewards". Linh received a sample file, typed it carefully and sent it away. She waited for a long time, but did not receive a response. When asked again, the "manager" said he did not meet the requirements, and needed to pay an additional 300,000 to "upgrade his account" to get a score. Linh began to suspect, but some people in the group showed off that they had just " withdrawn money", so she tried to believe it again.

After transferring money for the second time, the chat group suddenly disappeared. The employer's account was also blocked. At that time, the female student realized that she had been scammed. She went online to look up and found that hundreds of people were falling into the same trap: All were lured to pay "activeness fees" or "guarantee fees", then lost contact. Linh's story is just one of countless cases of being scammed out of text for hire that are spreading on social networks.

Recently, recruitment scams have been on the rise, especially in the online environment. Many subjects have taken advantage of the reputation and prestige of large corporations and enterprises to impersonate and post fake recruitment information with the purpose of defrauding candidates.

Risk of personal data theft

Mr. Vu Quang Thanh - Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center - said that regular online connection activities between Hanoi and neighboring provinces have helped workers and businesses save significantly in time and costs.

"Workers in Vinh Phuc or Bac Ninh can connect to interviews with businesses in Hanoi and vice versa. The labor market is much closer" - Mr. Thanh said.

However, along with those benefits are potential risks. cyberspace has become a place for scammers to spread sophisticated traps, targeting workers who are looking for jobs.

Analyzing this situation, Mr. Vu Quang Thanh pointed out: Most workers are falling into a virtual trap, which is the illusion of "easy work, high salary".

According to Mr. Thanh, the tricks of scammers are not new but always effective because they attract the trust of a part of the workers. They often painted with idle jobs, not requiring experience, working at home but with an unbelievable "huge" income.

"The general level of salary payment is basically similar, depending on each segment and the nature of the work. There is no such thing as easy work with high salaries. This is something that workers need to be really vigilant about" - Mr. Thanh emphasized.

The Deputy Director of the Hanoi Employment Service Center recommends that when accessing any recruitment information, workers need to carefully check and authenticate information about the enterprise. Absolutely do not believe in unrealistic promises, do not transfer money or provide sensitive personal information to employers when the truth is not yet clear. Giving up information not only causes workers to lose money but also risks theft of personal data for illegal purposes.

To support workers, the Hanoi Employment Service Center also regularly integrates consulting content, warnings about scams in job fairs and daily consulting activities, to raise public awareness and protect the legitimate rights of workers.

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