Life-changing promise
In April 2026, a group of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters began to carry out a series of articles about the "dark corners" of seasonal workers going to work abroad. It is a journey into the dark side of the job market, where the legitimate dream of honest farmers is lured by dishonest subjects.
The meeting between us and Mr. T.B. D (42 years old, residing in Phong My commune, Dong Thap province) took place in an indescribably hesitant atmosphere. Mr. D. did not dare to invite us into the house, which is a taboo in the hospitality culture of the Mekong Delta people. "I want to invite you to come to the house to play very much, but I'm afraid! My wife will hear and worry, and my parents will be old and probably won't be able to live" - Mr. D. said, looking around with vigilance.
Taking a sip of water, Mr. D. confided that before, he and his wife were both seafood workers in their hometown with a total income of about 15 million VND/month. After deducting the tuition fees of their children, the money to hire someone to look after young children, the money for medicine for sick elderly parents and the money for parties in their hometown... it is not possible to have enough. The plight of poverty makes him always anxious to find an opportunity to "go abroad to take care of his family.
His hand tremblingly opened the phone, showing us the money transfer orders with a total amount of more than 60 million VND for an account named Q.H.
I heard people say that going to Korea for 8 months can bring back a few hundred million, so I found it too reasonable and transferred money according to them" - Mr. D. choked up and added.
Because he was gullible, from March 26, 2026, he fell into the trap of "slimming" the money of brokers: Sometimes 4 million, sometimes 9 million, then 12 million VND... with the trick of paying enough fees to fly faster. The fraudsters were so sophisticated that they staged many scenarios, sending text messages continuously to manipulate psychology, pushing Mr. D. into a dead end. In a "reluctant" situation, he borrowed hot money outside at high interest rates and pawned his motorbike - the only accumulated asset of the couple - to pay money in time for the schedule.
Falling into a trap
Although Mr. D. tried to cling to a fanciful hope, with professional sensitivity, we frankly warned and analyzed similar situations to identify the truth of the matter, avoiding the situation of continuing to send money in vain. And then, what needed to happen happened...
On May 19, 2026, the Investigation Police Agency, Can Tho City Police, issued Decisions to prosecute criminal cases, prosecute defendants and execute Arrest Warrants for temporary detention against Nguyen Thi Thu Dong for the act of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" occurring at Huynh Huong Group Co., Ltd. It is known that through social networking sites Facebook, Tiktok... Thu Dong posted information recruiting workers to go to Korea with a cost of tens of millions of VND, then appropriated it for personal spending purposes.
Immediately upon receiving the information, a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper immediately contacted Mr. T.B. D. to verify. Through identification images from the police agency, Mr. D. was stunned and confirmed that Thu Dong (owner of the Zalo account Quynh Huong) was the one who received the money and committed to carry out procedures for him to go to Korea. For us, this is the result of a long journey following the traces of violations, but for Mr. D., that news is like a "deadly knife".
After that, we continued to be present in Dong Thap province to meet him again. At this time, the male worker was shocked to realize that he had been "psychologically manipulated" too sophisticatedly by the subject.
Accordingly, hitting the psychology of eagerly looking for opportunities to go to Korea, Thu Dong proactively arranged to meet him at a luxury house on Hung Vuong street (Can Tho City) to hand over cash and sign documents to create absolute trust. "At that time, I saw this woman come down from the luxurious upper floor, I firmly believed that it was her private house and her big business company, so I completely trusted her" - Mr. D. recalled bitterly.
The method of "smashing" the money made the victim not feel like losing too much at the same time. When he began to doubt and question the flight schedule, the subject immediately changed his attitude, using the "punch and rub" tactic. When Mr. D. read the fraud warning information on social networks and expressed concern, Thu Dong used harsh words to refute it.
In fact, if there had been no meeting and timely warning from Lao Dong Newspaper reporters before, perhaps Mr. D. would have continued to borrow money to pay more until resources were depleted.
Spiritual support
After accepting the truth that he was a victim, Mr. T.B. D's psychology was relieved of its heavyness. When the psychological burden was relieved, he sent us many great wishes: One is to be connected with the Dong Thap Provincial Employment Service Center to work abroad according to the State's procedures; two is to provide the entire file to the Can Tho City Police to solve the case; three is to use his own bloody story to send a warning to readers across the country.
Seeing that his wishes were reasonable and satisfactory, we brought this message to work with the Dong Thap Provincial DVVL Center. Talking to reporters, Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Ai - Head of the Labor Supply Department said that the center had closely monitored Mr. D.'s case through articles in Lao Dong Newspaper. Ms. Ai noted that this is a special labor case that needs support and will consider and include Mr. D. in the survey list, directly guiding the seasonal labor recruitment trip to Korea in 2027.
Right at the working session, under the enthusiastic guidance on how to redo official registration procedures, we saw Mr. D.'s calloused hands trembling with joy. With choked emotion, he tremblingly said to us: "Well, the goods go instead of the people... I feel so warm".
Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Ai also sent her deep thanks to Lao Dong Newspaper for always accompanying, promptly reflecting and protecting local workers. She added that to avoid the situation of people "losing money and getting sick" due to lack of information, the center has proactively innovated propaganda methods with online job counseling sessions from 7 pm to 8 pm daily so that workers can easily access official information.
Mr. Doan Van Truyen (resident of Thap Muoi commune, Dong Thap province) shared: "Thanks to Lao Dong Newspaper spreading information, I understand, now every time I need any advice, I just go to the State agency to be sure.
Since then, the phone number of the group of Lao Dong Newspaper reporters suddenly became a "hotline" for Mr. D. and many other workers in the area to confide in. With Mr. D., whenever he receives a new stream of information, he immediately presses the number to call us: "Sister, now there is more information on the internet, can you believe it?", "Sister, if you want to report the incident to the police, what documents do you need to bring with you?"...
Every call that comes, whether in the middle of the night or on the way to work, we receive with sincere listening and detailed advice, without seeing any trouble. We think that Lao Dong Newspaper reporters not only play the role of simple reporters, but have become guides, "advisors" to make the worker spirit more solid.
Amidst the complex fluctuations of the job market, we hope that the information published will be a source of information, a bridge for functional agencies to continue to intervene to protect the legitimate and lawful rights of workers against sophisticated "scams". We are and will continue to embark on reflecting the reality, and at the same time be a place to send trust to workers on every path of making a living and starting a business.
