Colonel Tran Hong Minh, Deputy Director of HCMC Police, who presided over a recent conference on drug trafficking and online kidnapping, said 'online kidnapping' crimes have increased and continue to develop in complexity. 

The police reported that in 2025 alone, 77 online kidnapping cases occurred in the city, of which the police rescued 52 cases, and 13 victims escaped and returned on their own within 24 hours. In less than the first month of 2026, 16 new cases have been recorded.

"Online kidnapping" has emerged as a particularly dangerous tactic. Without needing physical restraint or direct contact, subjects use phones, social media, and psychological manipulation to "detain" victims from afar, forcing victims to isolate themselves, follow instructions, and even cut off contact with their families.

Cases show that the primary targets are students and young people, the age groups that often lack life skills, are trusting, and are easily intimidated by psychological scenarios. “Online kidnapping” is a form of fraud and can also be the starting point of human trafficking online.

Colonel Nguyen Tien Dat, head of the Criminal Police Division under the HCMC Police, said some students who are very academically capable can still easily become victims of scams. 

Scammers often exploit young people’s habits of online shopping and online payments, threatening them with alleged involvement in money laundering rings. They also prey on dreams of studying abroad or promises of “light work with high pay.”

Colonel Dat said the crime process usually involves multiple steps, such as psychological manipulation, luring victims into private chat groups, staging “virtual scenes” by using AI technology to create fake videos impersonating law enforcement agencies to threaten and control victims, and even remotely directing victims to move, rent hotel rooms, and self-isolate in order to cut off contact with their families.

Colonel Dat warned of a new tactic in which offenders do not require victims to move elsewhere but instead force them to stay at home and follow all instructions. They may even instruct victims to steal or scam money from relatives, or exploit their parents’ positions or professions to intimidate them into transferring money.

“Our current communication methods still have many limitations. An important warning that must be emphasized is that people should not panic or be intimidated by individuals impersonating authorities. Police officers, prosecutors, or courts always issue formal written summons when requesting meetings and do not work via phone calls or video calls,” Colonel Dat said. 

“Moreover, no state agency or official ever asks citizens to transfer money to an account for ‘verification’ or ‘inspection’ with a promise of later reimbursement.”

In Hanoi, on October 25, police in Ngoc Ha Ward detected and rescued a female university student born in 2005 who had been psychologically controlled by suspects impersonating police officers and threatened over alleged involvement in a drug case. The fraud ring demanded that her family transfer VND550 million to “prove her innocence.”

Earlier, on October 19, police in Dai Thanh Commune also successfully thwarted another sophisticated scam. A male university student was forced by criminals posing as police to stage a fake “kidnapping,” repeatedly calling his family and pressuring them to transfer VND150 million as ransom.

If not detected in time, such “online kidnapping” cases can escalate into more serious crimes, including human trafficking, forced labor, or sexual abuse, especially when victims are isolated for extended periods and moved according to criminals’ instructions.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the shift from street crime to cybercrime is an inevitable trend. Compared with traditional kidnapping, “online kidnapping” allows criminals to remain completely hidden, operate remotely at low cost but with high effectiveness, creating major challenges for investigations.

Meanwhile, cybersecurity expert Ngo Minh Hieu, founder of Chong Lua Dao, noted that teenagers’ excessive sharing of personal information on social media, such as daily-life photos, home addresses, school names, and travel habits, has unintentionally created a “data source” for criminals. This enables suspects to easily screen targets, assess family circumstances, and build tailored “online kidnapping” scripts.

Dam De