On April 26, Dong Nai Police reported that provincial agencies received a complaint from a victim who stated he had lost VND9 billion when making financial investment online.

In mid-December 2023, P.D.H. in Bien Hoa City made friends with a man via Zalo. The man said he was an old friend when both studied at the HCMC University of Agriculture and Forestry.

After exchanging information about jobs and families, the scammer told H can make big money if making investments online, and showed what he had to do.

H agreed to make the investment which was easy and profitable. The scammer then showed him how to register and obtain investment accounts with a link.

After that, he was told that he needed to deposit money into the account to begin making transactions. Every time when H had to transfer money to make transactions, the scammer would contact H and give advice on which securities and what time to buy securities to optimize his investments.

From December 12, 2023 to January 16, 2024, H transferred VND9 billion in total to make financial transactions. However, when the victim logged into the ‘DREAM’ app to withdraw money, he was informed that the request was denied and he was asked to pay personal income tax on the high profits he made. H realized that he had been tricked out of money and decided to report the case to the police.

In Hanoi, a man reported to the police that he had lost VND2 billion after falling into the trap of online financial investment. His old friend told him that investing in cryptocurrencies could bring super profit.

Within two days, the victim put a lot of money into ACO system and won $226,000. However, when he wanted to withdraw the money, he was told to add more money into the account as the ‘fees for authentication’, ‘upgrading to VIP account’. The victim then made 15 transactions and lost VND2 billion.

According to Lawyer Truong Ngoc Lieu from TAT Law Firm, scammers use a lot of tricks to swindle victims. They tell victims that making online financial investments is the shortest way to become rich. They also post articles about financial investments on social networks and organize meetings to call for investment into their systems.

Once they mobilize the amounts of money big enough, they will intervene transactions and appropriate victims’ money. Scammers recently use DeepFake which impersonates faces and voices when making video calls.

Tien Dung