Scammers illegally used images of Vietnam Airlines (VNA) to trick a Vietnamese woman into paying them more than VND2.6 billion (US$109,000) for aviation lessons for kids.

The cybersecurity and hi-tech crime prevention division, under the Da Nang City Department of Public Security, confirmed on Monday that it had received a report of the scam submitted by H.L., a native in Da Nang, located in central Vietnam.

Early this month, she noticed a Facebook account named ‘Trai he - hang khong tai nang nhi’ (Summer camp - Young aviation talents), which featured photos of VNA employees, aircraft and logo, promoting an aviation camp for kids.

Therefore, she decided to register her child to take part in the camp.

After registration, she was told to download Telegram, an instant messaging app, to follow up with her kid during the summer program.

Scammers asked her to do further tasks such as taking screenshots of her activities browsing the website and YouTube channel of the carrier and sending them to a group chat, adding that she would receive VND50,000 ($2.09) via bank transfer after completing these tasks.

Then, the woman was asked to submit money to buy air tickets.

They told her that she would get a refund plus a 10-15-percent commission after that.

After she submitted over VND2.6 billion ($109,000), the scammers did an about-face, saying that she completed the tasks slowly and her credit score would be deducted.

The fraudsters asked her to submit extra money to restore the credit score in order to get back the money submitted earlier along with the commission.

As she did not have enough money to do so, she was required to capture her ID card images and submit an additional VND200 million ($8,390) to restore the credit score.

It was not until she reached this step that she learned she was scammed and lost over VND2.6 billion ($109,000).

The police said that many fake accounts have recently appeared on Facebook under such names as ‘Trai he - hang khong tai nang nhi’ (Summer camp - Young aviation talents), ‘VIETNAM AIRLINE Cung Be Trai Nghiem 2023’ (Explore the 2023 with children), or ‘Trai he Vietnam Airlines 2’ (Vietnam Airlines Summer Camp 2) that illegally used images of the Vietnamese national flag carrier to commit fraud.

Local people should keep a wary eye on summer camps promoted on social media platforms to avoid scams.

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