Thousands of customers fell into a trap, participating in a fundraising scheme promising exorbitant interest rates, but in reality, it was just using money from later investors to pay earlier ones.

On October 8th, the Cybercrime Prevention and Control Department (C50) of the Ministry of Public Security announced that they have temporarily detained Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong (38 years old, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Phuong Thai An Joint Stock Company, located in Quarter 3, Tan Hiep Ward, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai), Pham Thanh Toan (45 years old, residing in Tan Hoa Ward, Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai, General Director of the company), and Ho Dinh Phu (24 years old, residing in Phu Hoi Commune, Duc Trong District, Lam Dong, Business Director) for further investigation into the act of using computer networks, telecommunication networks, the internet, or digital devices to commit acts of property appropriation.

The suspects were arrested.

Upon verification, the suspects created the website hero8.org to solicit customers from many provinces and cities nationwide to invest in the company, but in reality, they only used money from later investors to pay earlier investors who had joined the system.

This ring was led by Phuong, while Toan and Phu played a crucial role in assisting Phuong in defrauding thousands of customers through illegal high-interest loan schemes.

Evidence seized in the case.

Specifically, customers participating in the system must invest 10,160,000 VND to receive a code called an ID. Of this, 2,160,000 VND is called the PIN fee (a participation fee set by the system) and 8,000,000 VND is the initial investment called PH.

According to the referral model, every 5 days, each participant who signs up for a code will receive 2,200,000 VND called GH. Each individual receives a total of 18 installments. Therefore, based on calculations over a period of 5 x 18 = 90 days, if a customer invests 10,160,000 VND, they will receive 2,200,000 x 18 = 39,600,000 VND, meaning an estimated return on investment of approximately 130%.

This represents a huge profit that customers received in a short period of time. Based on the collected documents, on the evening of October 7th, the C50 Department, in coordination with the Dong Nai Provincial Police, proceeded to arrest the suspects.

Initially, the three suspects confessed that 14,637 member IDs had been activated and actually participated in the system, out of a total of 21,405 IDs registered in the system.

From the beginning of 2016, Phuong, Phu, and Toan pooled their capital to establish Phuong Thai An Joint Stock Company. They then hired someone to create the website hero8.org and designed the operating model based on Phuong's concept, while also recruiting others to participate. Phu was in charge of managing the company's website system.

Every day, Phuong, Toan, and Phu promote their company, seeking business partnerships in various fields, and encourage individuals to sign contracts with the company. Interest payments will be made by the company through bank accounts.

The embezzled money was used by all three for personal expenses. Thousands of victims transferred over 104 billion VND into Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong's account, 11 billion VND into Ho Dinh Phu's account, and 15 billion VND into Pham Thanh Toan's account.

According to the People's Police Newspaper