Vietnamese police have struck a major blow against a sophisticated crypto scam network run by offshore criminals.
On October 4, law enforcement from Nghe An province, which borders Laos, successfully dismantled a Laos-based scam ring involved in fraudulent wire transfers and cryptocurrency cons.
The ring, led by foreign bad actors, employed tactics like pig butchering and investment scams, targeting unsuspecting victims with promises of sky-high returns.
After a thorough investigation, Nghe An police arrested two Vietnamese nationals directly linked to the scam. One of the suspects had traveled to Laos in September 2023 to join the operation.
By February, they had set up fake Facebook accounts to lure victims into romance and investment schemes. Pretending to be a woman, the scammer built trust with a man from Ho Chi Minh City, eventually duping him into sinking large sums into a fraudulent cryptocurrency project called “Biconomynft.”
Over several months, the scammer siphoned off more than 17.6 billion Vietnamese dong, roughly $700,000.
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But the fraud didn’t end there. Another accomplice faced similar charges, and following further investigations, police arrested three more suspects, all linked to the same criminal ring.
Their strategy was simple but effective: they would initially release small profits to win victims’ trust before freezing their accounts and disappearing with the money once larger investments were made.
Crypto scams like this have become a cross-border issue. In a recent case, Vietnamese and South Korean authorities joined forces to take down a separate Vietnam-based scam network that swindled over 230 victims out of 10 billion won ($7.5 million).
This elaborate scheme saw scammers posing as family members or using fake notifications like wedding invitations and funeral announcements to trick their targets. After tracking 300,000 suspicious transactions, police arrested 86 people across Korea and abroad.
