Vietnam police bust group planning large-scale online scam center

HANOI: Vietnamese police have ‌busted a group suspected of trying to establish a large-scale online scam center in the country, authorities said ​on Friday, as criminal networks spread their operations across Southeast Asia.
Police in Phu Tho province uncovered and disrupted a transnational group linked to online fraud syndicates operating in Cambodia, preventing it from setting up what they described as a major scam hub in Vietnam, the Ministry ‌of Public ‌Security said in a statement.
Four ​people ‌were ⁠arrested, including ​a ⁠Chinese national and three Vietnamese, according to the statement.
Investigators said the group had rented multiple resorts, farmstays and villas in Hanoi, Lao Cai and Phu Tho to house dozens of people as part of their preparations, adding that many of them ⁠had previously worked at scam ‌centers in Cambodia.
Police also ‌seized dozens of computers, hundreds ​of mobile phones and ‌Internet devices allegedly used for online fraud, saying ‌the site was close to becoming operational.
The raid “prevented the formation of a large-scale transnational high-tech fraud center within Vietnam,” and also helped safeguard national security and ‌protect people’s assets, the ministry said.
Speaking at a virtual press briefing on Wednesday, ⁠FBI Co-Deputy ⁠Director Andrew Bailey described scam compounds as among “the most significant threats facing the world today,” warning that their impact across Southeast Asia was “growing at an exponential rate.”
Bailey said the operations are run by sophisticated transnational networks that move people, money and technology across borders, exploiting weak governance and emerging tools to expand globally.
Amnesty International said in a report on Monday that dozens of suspected ​global scam compounds ​in Cambodia are still in operation despite a months-long crackdown by authorities.