Arresting a trio of multi-level marketing scammers who appropriated tens of billions of dong in Bitcoin

A group of multi-level scammers who were recently arrested provided information that investors would receive high interest rates if they invested in and bought Bitcoin virtual currency, in order to appropriate tens of billions of dong from many people.

The arrested subjects at the investigation agency - Photo: Bac Giang Newspaper

The Investigation Security Agency of Bac Giang Province Police has just arrested 3 subjects, including: Than Thi Toan (50 years old, residing in Nghia Trung commune, Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province), Nguyen Tuan Giang (63 years old, residing in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi) and Nguyen Thi Thi (54 years old, residing in Long Bien district, Hanoi) to investigate the act of fraud and appropriation of property.

The above group of subjects was identified as having fraudulently appropriated tens of billions of dong from many people in Bac Giang and other provinces and cities through the form of mobilizing investment capital in "virtual currency" Bitcoin.

Specifically, the three subjects colluded with a number of other subjects to create a website related to Bitcoin virtual currency activities. Then, they advertised this as a form of investment with high profits to invite people to participate in buying AOC codes (virtual currency codes).

When the victims "fell into the trap", the above group of subjects told these people that if they could persuade others to buy the AOC code, they would receive 10-15% commission on the total amount that the later customers participated in. If they continued to participate for a long time, the original amount would double...

Because of trust, many people have invested hundreds of millions of dong to buy virtual currency and mobilized relatives and friends to join in buying AOC codes.

The Investigation Security Agency of Bac Giang Provincial Police received a complaint from Ms. Do Thi N. (in Bac Giang City) about being defrauded by Than Thi Toan, who appropriated hundreds of millions of dong.

Specifically, Ms. N. paid more than 400 million VND to buy AOC code with the promise of being paid 0.5% interest every day. If after 180 days Ms. N. did not want to participate anymore, she could withdraw the principal. However, when the deadline passed, Ms. N. was not able to fulfill Toan's promise, so she filed a complaint with the investigation agency.

Faced with this situation, the General Department of Police (Ministry of Public Security) has issued recommendations to people about the ownership, purchase, sale, and use of virtual currency, which carries many risks and dangers of crimes such as fraud, property appropriation, and money laundering.

Accordingly, organizations and individuals should not invest, hold, or conduct transactions related to Bitcoin and similar virtual currencies. According to this agency, currently in Vietnam there are a number of financial exchanges using the virtual currency Bitcoin, operating under a disguised multi-level model, taking money from later people to pay earlier people, with the trick of interest rates up to 30% - 80%/year.

According to Tuoi Tre