Hoa Phat Group (HPG) has received information that many individuals and organizations had impersonated the company to swindle people and gain illegal profits by offering jobs and calling for investment in projects.

Scammers forged documents, signatures and stamps, used logos, information and brand images of the group to create websites, where they post invitations for investment.

The scammers introduced a steel manufacturing development project capitalized at VND253 billion (45 percent of workload has been implemented) and called for prompt investment in the project. The minimum investment was VND2 million and ‘investors’ were promised a profit of 1.32 percent after just 15 minutes.

This was a very high interest rate, which meant profit of 5.28 percent after one hour and 127 percent after one day.

The scammers also forged Hoa Phat’s document on labor division, and forged the signature of Hoa Phat president Tran Dinh Long, which said the president requested strict rules during the project implementation.

Vingroup owned by billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong has also been exploited by scammers in order to appropriate people’s assets. Scammers set up websites which looked similar to Vingroup’s official website to make illegal profits.

One of the forged webs was named Vinvn.in… Scammers promised an attractive investment opportunity with a series of ‘Vingroup project funds’.

They drew up funds for trade, service, healthcare and technology, with capital of trillions of dong and called for investment in the funds. The required minimum investment capital was VND30 million, for which investors would get profit of 1.32 percent. If the minimum investment was VND100 million, investors would pocket profit of 4.23 percent after 30 minutes.

One of the funds was a technology and industry development fund (attached with VinFast logo), with VND6.656 trillion. With minimum investment capital of VND300 million, investors would get profit of 5.56 percent after 30 minutes.

In the last two years, many individuals introducing themselves as officers of large securities firms, such as SSI (Saigon Securities Incorporated), VNDirect and MBS, have made tens of calls each day, inviting people to Zalo groups to get consultancy about investment in securities and international trade. Many people complained that they lost big money when joining trading floors invited by the scammers.

Hoa Phat Group said that it has not called for investment in any project. The company has given warnings on its official website and media channels, drawn up a report and joined forces with agencies to deal with the scams.

Hoa Phat said that when carrying out recruitment campaigns, it never asks candidates to provide personal information via telephone, email or social networks.

In mid-April 2024, the investigation agency of Hanoi Police filed charges against Nguyen Thi Khuyen, CEO of Tam Loc Phat Group, and arrested her for swindling and appropriating assets by mobilizing capital from thousands of investors and promising high interest rates.

Tam Loc Phat organized a lot of events with the participation of celebrities and YouTubers in Vietnam.

When calling for investment, Khuyen offered very attractive interest rates. She paid high brokerage fees to those who successfully lured investors, and paid interest to investors daily with an interest rate much higher than bank deposit interest rates. 

The investigation agency found that Tam Loc Phat used the money from later investors to pay interest to earlier investors under a ‘ponzi’ model.

In another case, Sen Tai Thu mobilized VND1 trillion worth of capital with promised high interest rates though it was in a state of insolvency. The capital mobilization was implemented under the form of share trading with a committed interest rate of up to 12 percent per annum.

In addition to the interest paid to investors, the enterprise also paid high commissions to the sale staff.

In November 2023, Cau Giay Police in Hanoi filed charges against Pham My Hanh, born in 1980, president of My Hanh Group, and arrested her for tricking people out of their assets.

Hanh deliberately provided wrong information about the project on growing Ngoc Linh ginseng in many localities, mobilized VND1.2 trillion worth of capital from many individuals, and then appropriated the assets.

If the scammers were in Vietnam, victims could claim back part of their money from enterprises’ assets. If the swindling was conducted online and across borders, victims lost all their money.

Manh Ha