At a Friday session, the National Assembly Standing Committee reviewed the Government's 2025 report on crime prevention and law violations, as well as anti-corruption efforts.
Overall, most categories of crime and legal violations declined year-on-year, down 21 percent. However, some offenses increased, including fraud, asset appropriation, and public-order disturbances. Preventive effectiveness in state management of telecommunications and the Internet remains limited, with gaps and shortcomings.
Sharing his views, Le Tan Toi, Chair of the NA Committee for National Defense, Security and External Relations, said one underlying cause is that outreach has not reached all citizens, especially regarding cybercrime. Public vigilance from social organizations and citizens also remains insufficient.
He asked bluntly: "Why do other countries also use the Internet yet suffer fewer scams than we do? Because we are newer to the medium and do not fully understand the tricks, so it is easy to be deceived. The primary victims are the elderly and children." He called for intensified online communication campaigns and diverse, accessible forms of community outreach.
Toi particularly urged specialized ministries and agencies to tighten oversight of online accounts, especially on TikTok and Facebook. "If we can manage these platforms - and phone numbers as well - crime prevention will be more effective," he said.
Citing deceptive "easy job, high pay" schemes that trafficked victims to Cambodia, National Assembly Vice Chairman Le Minh Hoan noted that despite repeated warnings that such jobs do not exist, the problem persists. He also pointed to "zero-cost tours" targeting seniors in localities: "There is no such thing as zero-cost travel. People believe it, and although they seemingly pay nothing upfront, once inside the program they are forced to buy things and end up losing money and peace of mind," he said.
Speaking afterward, Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Van Long reported that in 2025, most categories of social-order crime declined, including severe and particularly severe homicides and cases involving gang-style organized crime. Regarding cyber-enabled fraud, he said this crime type also decreased over the past year.
"We have dispatched working groups to the Golden Triangle area to coordinate crackdowns on a series of cases and scam centers there, arresting hundreds of suspects for prosecution," Nguyen Van Long said. He emphasized that cyber fraud is a challenge faced by many countries, including those in Europe and the United States - a common, global difficulty, not unique to Vietnam. "We are striving to intensify public communication across all platforms, from cyberspace to official media. Public awareness is rising, but many people are still too trusting and fall victim," he added.
On anti-corruption and thrift, Government Inspector General Doan Hong Phong affirmed the principle that "combating waste is on par with combating corruption and negative practices." Acting on directions from the Central Steering Committee and General Secretary To Lam, the Government Inspectorate has inspected the second facilities of Bach Mai Hospital and Viet Duc Hospital in former Ha Nam province, identifying waste exceeding VND 1,200 billion (over USD 49 million).
The inspectorate is conducting two nationwide thematic inspections. The first covers thrift and anti-waste in the management and use of state-owned buildings and land by agencies, units, and state-owned enterprises, slated for completion by end-2025. The second targets long-stalled, problematic projects at risk of losses and waste. "This will basically conclude by September 30, to help remove obstacles and unlock resources for socio-economic development," Doan Hong Phong said.
Through inspections and settlement of complaints and denunciations, many violations have been uncovered, with recommendations to discipline thousands of organizations and individuals, and hundreds of cases and suspects referred to investigative authorities.
On prevention, he noted positive results from multiple measures, while acknowledging remaining shortcomings. The Government Inspectorate is advising the Government to submit to the National Assembly amendments to the Anti-Corruption Law to strengthen preventive tools - enhancing transparency in organization and operations, advancing administrative reform, and applying digital transformation to manage and control assets and income.