Pham Thai Son, enrollment director at the HCM City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT), said that some students and parents have asked about messages inviting them to enroll in the school.

The sender was named HUIT, who said in the message: "HUIT congratulates you on official admission acceptance. Please come to HUIT to comply with necessary procedures to start school from August 18 to 5pm August 27, 2024. HUIT offers a gift worth VND3 million to 2,000 students who first follow procedures to start school. You can check exam results at edu.vn/kqtt. Contact phone numbers: 02871085555; 0949981717.”

According to Son, students looked at the link, but the information was wrong. Meanwhile, some students pointed that while the given link showed the name HUIT, the telephone number in the message belonged to the HCM City University of Economics and Finance (UEF). After the images of the messages were posted on social networks, UEF was strongly criticized by students and parents.

HUIT has warned students about the scam and asked students to only pay admission fees as guided on its official website on August 20-27. It has also informed UEF about the problem.

According to Truong Thi Ngoc Bich, director of UEF’s Information and Communications Center, messages with content similar to the one in the message of HUIT had been sent to students who had passed entrance exams. The links, Zalo accounts, and phone numbers shown in the UEF message, of course, were authentic.

Bich said UEF has sent a dispatch requesting units to explain this incident to others, and has asked police to clarify this activity to prevent fraud.

The Sai Gon University said some students passing exams to enter the school have received a message to pay admission fees and tuition worth VND6,953,000 by transferring money into a bank account. The university’s leaders said that the school does not make calls, or send messages and emails to students to request payment of admission fees and tuition, and has told students not to transfer money to any accounts not owned by “Truong Dai hoc Saigon” (Sai Gon University).

Le Huyen