The municipal police department said on November 8 that it was working with relevant investigative units to verify the case and clarify suspected online fraud activities.
The Immigration Department and Tan My Ward police inspect the house flagged as suspicious (Photo: Thuan Thien).
The case came to light during a crackdown on foreigners residing or operating illegally in the city, when police detected suspicious activities at a house in the Everich 3 residential area.
At 6.30 pm on November 4, authorities conducted an unannounced inspection of house A2-12, where they found 14 foreign nationals who had failed to register their temporary residence. The group comprised 13 Chinese nationals and one Moroccan citizen.
A search of the property uncovered 29 desktop computers, five laptops, 112 mobile phones and numerous Wi-Fi devices. Police also found scripts and documents suspected of being used in online scams to fraudulently obtain money and assets.
According to police, the group had maintained a highly secluded lifestyle before the inspection. All the house's glass windows had been covered, and only one person was allowed to leave each day to buy food and other essential supplies.
Preliminary investigations found that the group's managers had recruited Chinese nationals through social media, providing instructions and money to facilitate their illegal entry into Vietnam through unofficial border crossings along the Vietnam-Cambodia and Vietnam-China borders.
After entering the country, the recruits were transported to the house in the Everich 3 residential area.
There, employees were given prepared contact lists and scripts to approach and persuade people to invest through the WhatsApp messaging application.
The group allegedly established fake stock trading platforms designed to imitate reputable exchanges, using website addresses with domain names closely resembling those of legitimate platforms to gain victims' trust and deceive them.
Once potential victims agreed to participate, the suspects sent them QR codes linked to bank accounts prepared and controlled by the group's managers, instructing them to transfer money.
The group then manipulated profit indicators on its platforms to display fictitious returns, encouraging victims to invest more money before allegedly appropriating their funds.
Many phones are seized by police for the investigation (Photo: Thuan Thien).
The Immigration Management Division has reported the case to the leadership of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department and is coordinating with relevant investigative units to clarify the allegations and handle any violations in accordance with the law.