Online scams still dien bien phuc tap
On January 7, the National Network Security Association (NCA) said that 2025 marked a remarkable shift in the network security picture in Vietnam when the number of victims of online scams for the first time recorded a decrease after many years. However, users still cannot be subjective, because network attack forms are constantly changing and becoming increasingly sophisticated.
According to a survey by the Association with the participation of 60,300 individual users nationwide, online scams in 2025 have decreased significantly compared to 2024. Specifically, about 555 users participating in the survey, 1 person said they were victims of scams, equivalent to a rate of 0.18%. Meanwhile, in 2024, this number is about 220 people, 1 person was scammed, a rate of 0.45%.
According to the National Cyber Security Association, this is a very positive change, the first time after many years that online scams have recorded a decrease. However, Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Head of the Technology Department of the Association, emphasized: "Online scams are still extremely complicated, users need to continue to raise their vigilance. Subjects will find ways to apply new technologies, even experiment with new tricks and forms to bypass fraud prevention measures, the risk to users is still present in cyberspace.
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Public Security, in the first 11 months of 2025, the damage caused by online fraud is still very large, estimated at over 6,000 billion VND.
Regarding forms of fraud, a 2025 survey shows that subjects still mainly use familiar scenarios such as impersonating agencies and organizations; impersonating winnings; impersonating shippers; impersonating acquaintances; making emotional friends or inviting financial investment. However, these tricks are increasingly sophisticated, making it difficult for users to distinguish between real and fake and easily becoming victims.
According to survey results, the form of impersonating police officers emerged as the most common form of fraud in 2025. Subjects staged scenarios accusing users of being involved in criminal cases, requesting to keep in touch to create psychological pressure. Then, they requested "transfer of money to prove cleanliness" or installed "investigation service" software to appropriate property. Not only stopping at regular calls, the subjects also staged fake police headquarters, using many people to play different roles to increase trust and manipulate victims through video calls.
The trick of fraudulently announcing winning prizes and receiving gifts to appropriate money ranks 2nd in popularity. While the form of inviting high-profit investments has decreased to third place, showing that people are gradually becoming more wary of promises of rapid wealth that once exploded in the previous year. Other types of scams such as impersonating shippers or making friends, emotional exchange continue to rank 4th and 5th, these forms exist quite persistently, although not new tricks.
A point that is still worrying is that people's habit of reporting when they encounter fraud has not improved.
In the positive direction, users' awareness and network security skills continue to improve compared to the previous year.
Cybersecurity forecast 2026
Stepping into 2026, network security for individual users is forecast to continue to face many new challenges, the most prominent of which is the increase in the sophistication of online scams. Cybercrime groups will promote the application of Deepfake technology to create fake images, videos and voices with very high authenticity. These fake contents can be used to impersonate acquaintances, agency leaders, public officials or representatives of financial and banking organizations, making it very difficult for people to distinguish between real and fake if they lack skills and updated information.
In parallel with that, malware attacks on individual users will still be a common threat. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, creating new malware variants has become easier, allowing cybercriminals to automate the dissemination process, avoid traditional security tools and selectively attack specific user groups.
2026 is expected to record improvements in personal data protection when a series of new legal regulations such as the Law on Personal Data Protection and the 2025 Network Security Law take effect. Organizations and businesses will be forced to increase responsibility and invest in network security commensurate with the activities of collecting, storing and processing user data. However, experts warn that the amount of personal data that has been leaked before will still be exploited by criminal gangs to continue attacking users.
Raising awareness and digital skills for people, in parallel with completing the legal corridor and personal data protection capacity, will continue to be a key factor to minimize network security risks in the coming time.
It's a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit of a bit.
