Authorities arrested 155 individuals in the Golden Triangle area specializing in online fraud.

According to intelligence gathered, by the end of 2023, fraud rings operating in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Myanmar, had shifted their operations to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Bokeo Province, Laos.

Besides victims in Asian countries, using the tactic of "using Vietnamese to deceive Vietnamese," these individuals have lured and enticed Vietnamese people to illegally enter the country through border crossings with attractive salaries ranging from 18-30 million VND, in order to commit fraud and embezzle property from Vietnamese citizens.

In a short period of time, these individuals established their own "empire" in the supposedly "impenetrable" area, masterminded and led by foreigners.

The suspects will be required to live and work in high-rise buildings in the Bokeo special economic zone, provided with a "script," a Lao phone, and a Lao SIM card to create fake Facebook accounts, and instructed on how to scam and steal property.

Vietnamese employees were tasked with using Facebook accounts without real personal information, impersonating successful, wealthy, and single businesspeople, frequently posting pictures of parties and travel to make these fake accounts seem real in order to make friends, get acquainted, flirt, and build trust with people in Vietnam.

With sophisticated "psychological traps" that heavily exploit emotional needs, they easily create romantic relationships online.

After gaining their trust, they would trick them into investing in hotel businesses on a "virtual" hotel business app called OYO, promising high commissions and profits, thereby misappropriating the money the victims had invested.

Taking advantage of the victims' fear and shame, which prevented them from reporting to the police, and furthermore, because their headquarters were located abroad and transaction information was transferred through various sources, making it difficult to trace the destination, this network operated for a long time, defrauding thousands of people.

After understanding the organization's modus operandi, starting on July 30th, hundreds of elite officers from the Ha Tinh Criminal Police Department and other specialized units set out to carry out the mission. In the early morning of August 2nd, the task force teams, in coordination with the Lao police, decided to crack the case.

The objectives set by the special task force were to arrest all the suspects, quickly seize the evidence, and most importantly, ensure the safety of the arresting officers.

After successfully breaking in, the detectives reached the suspects' offices. They worked from the 3rd to the 11th floor of the building, so upon detecting the police presence, they immediately scattered and fled. The suspects quickly disposed of and destroyed the tools used in the crime, barricaded themselves in the common room, climbed onto balconies to hide, or blended in with the foreigners working in the building.

After more than four hours of pursuit by Vietnamese and Lao police forces, the masterminds, ringleaders, and Vietnamese employees were apprehended. Authorities arrested 155 individuals and seized nearly 100 passports, 74 ecstasy pills, 18,900 Chinese yuan, dozens of computers, nearly 500 mobile phones, thousands of unregistered SIM cards, and other tools and documents used in the fraudulent activities.

Initially, the police determined that this ring had defrauded more than 200 Vietnamese people, with the largest amount lost by a single victim reaching 5 billion VND.

The Criminal Investigation Department of the Ha Tinh Provincial Police is continuing to expand the investigation into the case. The Ha Tinh Provincial Police are urging anyone who is a victim of this fraud ring to contact them and report the incident so that they can cooperate in resolving the matter.