Chinese and Vietnamese suspects arrested over investment scams posing as “successful people”

Vietnamese police the previous day released information from the Ministry of Public Security’s Criminal Police Department about an operation to dismantle a criminal group. The group allegedly involved Vietnamese and Chinese collaborators operating in Cambodia, posing as successful people to lure women into investments and defraud them. Vietnam’s People’s Police newspaper published the information the previous day. It reported that on November 17, after a period of investigation and under the Vietnamese ministry’s direction, Vietnamese authorities and Cambodian police launched coordinated operations. Cambodian officers arrested several suspects, seized computers, phones and other evidence, and subsequently handed the suspects over at the Mộc Bài border crossing. Vietnamese officers arranged the handover and arrested them after they completed entry procedures. The Criminal Police Department said the group had appropriated nearly 140 billion Vietnamese dong from almost 500 victims nationwide. Investigators opened a case and charged 32 defendants with appropriating property through computer networks, telecommunications networks and electronic means. They were expanding inquiries into related conduct including money laundering, human trafficking and trading bank accounts. The report said the group developed carefully scripted scams with clear divisions of work. Social-media accounts portrayed successful people to meet and attract victims, usually relatively well-off women who were single, divorced or experiencing marital problems. After building trust, the suspects lured them into “investments” and “savings,” promising high interest—such as 6% a month—and paying interest daily to encourage larger deposits. The suspects also created websites with names resembling established brands and used similarly named bank accounts to appear credible. They instructed users to download fake applications simulating “customer service” and “interest withdrawal” functions to induce transfers. Once deposits reached a certain level, the group allegedly blocked withdrawals and demanded extra payments for “taxes” or “money-laundering checks.” Accounts were locked when victims could no longer pay.