Five Arrested in Vietnam for Connection to Offshore Crypto Scam

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.

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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.

Alexander Stefanov