More than half a month has passed, but residents living around the foot of Tan An Bridge (crossing the Vam Co Tay River, Tay Ninh) still cannot shake the haunting memory of the fateful afternoon on April 1.

At the scene, a motorbike, personal belongings, and an ID card bearing the name L.T.Y.N. (born 2003, from Vinh Long) were found abandoned. As the owner’s disappearance raised suspicions, police launched a search operation on the river.

Two days later, authorities discovered a body, later identified as N. Her death not only devastated her family but also sparked public concern over the circumstances leading to it.

Amid rumor that the victim had borrowed money via loan apps and faced threats, the Tay Ninh Provincial Police directed specialized units, in coordination with the Criminal Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, to investigate.

Through evidence collection and tracing, unusual signs were gradually uncovered. As the truth emerged, a sophisticated and ruthless fraud scheme came to light.

Investigators found that the tragedy began in early March 2026 when N. accidentally lost an iPad she had borrowed from her younger sibling. Under pressure to compensate, she decided to borrow VND30 million online to replace it.

She was then targeted by a Zalo account named “Tan Duc”. This subject introduced himself as a "consultant" to execute psychological manipulation tactics. He lured N. into paying a series of fees into an account under the name V.M.L.I Trading Co., Ltd., including profile fees, insurance fees, and even "system error correction" fees.

After exhausting her own money, N. had to borrow from everywhere to have money to pay the subjects. She even lied to her relatives that she needed money for traffic accident compensation. However, the more money she transferred, the more the intended loan vanished.

As a result, N. had to shoulder a massive debt, many times larger than the amount she originally needed to borrow. Realizing she was empty-handed and at a dead end, N. did not seek help from authorities. In her despair, the young girl chose the most negative way to release herself.

Transnational scam "Matrix"

N.'s case is not alone. According to the Tay Ninh Provincial Police, from the beginning of 2025 to the present, functional forceshave  discovered and investigated 10 cases related to high-tech crime. To date, professional units have clarified 9 cases and prosecuted 42 subjects using social networks and telecommunications to commit crimes.

In the first quarter of 2026 alone, the situation of online fraud showed signs of complex escalation. Police authorities received 3 crime reports with total asset losses exceeding the threshold of VND4 billion. The Provincial Police Board of Directors established 2 major special projects, quickly dismantling and prosecuting 20 related subjects.

Notably, in April 2026, the Criminal Police Department (Ministry of Public Security) chaired and coordinated with the Tay Ninh Provincial Police to successfully dismantle a large-scale transnational crime ring. The investigation exposed this entire sophisticated network, leading to a record decision to prosecute 344 subjects.

Tay Ninh Police reported that the victims targeted by cybercriminals are often elderly people with little technological understanding, or pupils and students lacking life experience. Subjects build sophisticated scripts aimed at completely isolating the victim from family support. They continuously launch psychological blows, hitting directly at fear or greed to manipulate victims according to their will.

To protect themselves, the Provincial Police recommend that citizens be especially vigilant against "easy work, high salary" invitations on social media. People must absolutely not borrow money through floating apps or websites and must not provide personal information or OTP codes to strangers in any form.

Beside individual self-awareness, the family plays the role of the most important "shield." Relatives need to proactively monitor unusual expressions such as anxiety, panic, or sudden borrowing of large sums of money to intervene timely, avoiding regrettable consequences.

Tuan Kiet