The story of a freshman who was 'kidnapped online' and found near the Cambodian border

In just 3 days, 2 new students in Ho Chi Minh City were 'kidnapped online' and discovered in Tay Ninh without contact with their families. One of them shared with Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters the incident that took place over a day of being led.

Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters met and recorded the story of a new student and her mother about the "online kidnapping" that happened on September 22.

Photo: Vu Doan

In just 3 days from September 17-20, 2 new students of Vietnam Aviation Academy were "kidnapped online" and were discovered in Tay Ninh without contact with their families. Fortunately, thanks to the urgent coordination of their families, authorities and the academy, these students were found and their safety was ensured.

On the afternoon of September 24, Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters were present at the Vietnam Aviation Academy to meet directly with one of the two cases above. This new student had just been admitted to the school, was from the Central region and was currently living alone in Ho Chi Minh City. After the incident, the new student's mother quickly arrived in Ho Chi Minh City to be with her child.

The scammer asked the male student to use Zoom to communicate during the incident.

Photo: NVCC

The "online kidnapping" case started with 168 billion VND

Sharing with Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter, the new student said that on September 22, this student received a phone call from a strange number claiming to be from a competent authority and requesting to be friends on Zalo. After agreeing to be friends, the male student received a video call and appeared on the phone screen as a person wearing a police uniform, another person in handcuffs.

"As soon as he appeared, the person on the other side clearly read out my full name and ID card number. At that time, I was quite confused, but I thought that only the authorities knew so much information," the male student said.

Next, the person impersonating a police officer pointed to the handcuffed person next to Pham Van Chung - the subject being detained by the police for using the personal information of new students to defraud and trade in loans with the amount of up to 168 billion VND. "Because I just came from my hometown to Ho Chi Minh City to study, I didn't know the information so I was half-doubting and half-believing," said the male student.

During the call, the subject continued to ask the new student to come to the authorities to work. Because the accommodation was quite far from the authorities' headquarters, the subject asked the male student to use Zoom Meeting to disseminate the rules and take a statement.

The male student said: "When I entered Zoom, I saw a person wearing a police uniform with the name Tran Duc Hoat, along with a badge and code number. At this person's request, I fully declared information about my major, school, current residence, hometown... After declaring my information for a while, I received a "suspect paper" stating that I had received 350 million VND from a junior of the scammer. Therefore, the police need evidence to confirm that in my most desperate time, I relied on my family and not on this person."

"While I was confused and didn't know how to prove it, the subject advised me to create a fake crime scene and then ask my parents to borrow 350 million VND. I only needed my parents to transfer money into my account and I could prove my innocence. I agreed to do so and was asked to move to HQ Motel ( about 50 km from Moc Bai border gate, Tay Ninh) to cooperate and create a fake crime scene," the new student said.

Didn't know he was being manipulated until he was rescued

According to this male student, to travel to Tay Ninh, the scammer transferred money for the student to take a taxi to the motel, and then booked a room at the motel. The new student continued: "On the bus, I held my phone to record the journey, but I don't know why, from the moment I got in the car, Zalo and my phone were blocked." Meanwhile, the scammer asked the student to open Zoom to monitor the entire trip until they arrived at the motel at around 11:30 p.m. on September 22.

At the motel, the subject asked the student to provide his Zalo account password to text his relatives and friends to create a fake scene. Also following the request from the Zoom system, the male student performed acts to create a fake scene by sitting in the corner of the room taking photos, creating a scene of being beaten and tortured, and then sending it to the scammer.

"During the process of performing these operations, I was quite confused but did not know that I was being manipulated. It was not until noon on September 23, after being rescued by the police and explained the incident, that I realized I had fallen into a scam "trap". During the entire conversation via Zoom, they always held a book in their hands that I thought was a psychology book," the new student added.

Male student re-recorded his travel schedule from Ho Chi Minh City to Tay Ninh as requested by the scammer.

Photo: NVCC

From study abroad fraud to kidnapping and ransom

Even though the incident happened many days ago, when talking to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter, the new student's mother still could not hide her emotion when telling the story.

"I usually contact my child every day. One day, I received a message from my child asking to join a study abroad program in Australia. While exchanging messages, I saw that my child's message was unusually long and I noticed something was wrong. I picked up the phone to call my child but it was turned off. I called many times but still couldn't get through. I had a bad feeling," the mother began her story.

The boy's mother continued: "In a state of panic when I could not contact my son, I thought for sure he had been kidnapped. I immediately called my family in Ho Chi Minh City to report the unusual situation and asked them to report it to the police. As expected, two hours later I received a blackmail call, demanding 300 million VND to ransom my son back."

"When the family reported to the police, they were asked not to transfer money to the subject because if they did, they would lose not only the money but also the child. If they got the money, the subject would most likely transfer the child to Cambodia to sell for money again...", the woman added.

10 hours of police rescue

Throughout the night of September 22, the parent said the kidnapper continuously texted to demand money, urging the family to transfer ransom money to the child. "When I asked to know how my child was doing, the kidnapper said he only worked for the other kidnapper group so he could not see him. I still texted to ask to hear my child's voice and to know if he was beaten, then a few minutes later there was a picture and recorded voice of my child, very shocked and panicked, asking the family to pay ransom...", the woman recounted.

Recalling that moment, the boy's mother said that the family was extremely panicked. She thought of the worst possible scenarios such as being kidnapped to Cambodia, being beaten... The whole family just hugged each other, cried and waited for the authorities. Finally, 10 hours after receiving the call, the authorities successfully rescued the boy.

"When I saw my child again, I thought he was living again, I thought I had given birth to him a second time. I really didn't think my child would come back safe and sound like that...", the woman was still in shock when she said these words after her child was rescued from the "online kidnapping" incident.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/loi-ke-cua-tan-sinh-vien-bi-bat-coc-online-duoc-tim-thay-gan-bien-gioi-camuchia-18525092422573892.htm