Vietnamese police arrested 99 people from China suspected of involvement in an international phone and Internet scheme leading to millions of dollars in losses.
Technical equipment confiscated by police (Photo provided by the police)
According to the General Department of Security under Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security, the suspects were arrested by the Vietnamese police from June 29 to July 6.
They are accused of conducting criminal activities in Districts 2, 7, and 8 of Ho Chi Minh City.
Police confiscated computers, telecommunication equipment, ATM readers and more.
Since March, the Vietnamese police discovered that Chinese crime groups had used bogus passports to enter Vietnam, mainly through Ho Chi Minh City.
The suspects are thought to have made phone calls posing as telecom representatives, police officers and prosecutors, asking people to wire money to unknown accounts.
They deployed information technology to hack banks and bank accounts of citizens from countries in the region.
The suspects were divided into groups of 8-10 people working independently at various locations and victims were chosen randomly.
These organised crime groups are not only operating in Vietnam. According to investigation results, they appeared first in Taiwan. After being pursued by Taiwanese police, they fled to Thailand and eventually Vietnam to continue their criminal activities.
Major General To Lam, General Director of the General Department of Security 1, said those arrested were not gang leaders. Their leaders are abroad and give out directions through Internet.