Recently, many Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube users have fallen victim to fake “scratch-and-win lottery” livestreams circulating on social media. Some have lost tens of millions of dong after being deceived into believing they had won major prizes.

Cybercriminals stage fake livestreams showing multiple people “winning” in succession, flooding the comment section with fake congratulatory messages to build trust. They then lure viewers into transferring money to buy scratch cards or pay “reward claim fees.” Once the victim sends money, the scammers invent additional charges such as “tax” or “large prize processing fees” to steal even more. More dangerously, victims are sometimes asked to provide sensitive personal information such as ID numbers, bank account details, and phone numbers.

Experts warn that once money has been transferred online in these cases, victims have virtually no chance of recovering it. The livestream accounts used for these scams are usually fake, frequently blocking comments or reports, and constantly changing names and profiles to continue deceiving new victims.

Users are strongly advised not to transfer money to strangers or provide personal information to any unlicensed “online scratch-and-win lottery” programs.

Bkav experts further caution against clicking “allow” on unfamiliar websites, pasting commands into terminals, or downloading apps from suspicious links, as these actions can easily lead to malware infections. If a device is suspected to be infected, immediately disconnect from the Internet and change all passwords from a secure device.

It is essential to perform a full system scan using professional antivirus software, since built-in antivirus programs packaged with operating systems only provide basic protection and are insufficient against advanced, persistent malware or ransomware designed to remain hidden deep within systems.

Bkav