Vietnamese police arrested five individuals tied to a cryptocurrency scam led by offshore criminals.
On October 4, authorities in Nghe An Province apprehended a Laos-based operation involved in fraudulent wire transfers. Two Vietnamese suspects were apprehended, including one who had joined the gang in September 2023.
The scammers used fake Facebook accounts to lure victims into romance and investment schemes, notably tricking a man from Ho Chi Minh City into investing in a phony app called “Biconomynft,” resulting in a loss of around 17.6 billion Vietnamese dong (approximately $700,000).
Following the arrests, three more suspects linked to the fraud were detained. The group initially built trust by returning small profits but later locked victims out of their accounts once larger sums were invested.
In a separate investigation, South Korean and Vietnamese authorities recently broke up another scam ring that defrauded victims of over 10 billion won (around $7.5 million) through various deceptive tactics, leading to 86 arrests after scrutinizing numerous suspicious transactions.
The scheme targeted working class individuals, promising them financial freedom.
During the third quarter of 2024, cryptocurrency thefts surpassed $127 million, with September contributing around $46 million.
A Russian cybercrime group is reportedly leveraging a series of AI-generated websites to implement software aimed at stealing cryptocurrency wallet credentials.
A new report from the Crypto Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) reveals that cash is far more prevalent than cryptocurrency in illegal activities worldwide.