Forex Investment Scam Dismantled by Vietnamese Police, Over $210 Million Seized

On October 25, Vietnam Police, in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security, dismantled an illegal foreign exchange trading platform carrying out fraudulent activities.

The criminal gang was led by Phó Đức Nam, a 30-year-old Vietnamese man also known as “Mr Pips” on TikTok.

Another suspect, Lê Khắc Ngọ, fled. Police have received arrest warrant against him.

It was reported that more than 2,600 victims from different countries and regions suffered losses due to the scam. And the police have seized or frozen about $211.8 million in assets.

The Vietnamese police are still investigating the case and will file criminal charges against the suspect for fraudulent appropriation of property, money laundering, and harbouring and consuming criminal assets.

Since 2021, Phó Đức Nam, Lê Khắc Ngọ, and a Turkish national have been carrying out fraudulent activities in Cambodia. The instructed seven other accomplices in Vietnam to set up several shell companies.

Despite the fact that the companies were not licensed to provide securities or other financial services, they employed about 1,000 workforce to carry out illegal foreign exchange and derivatives trading services.

To attract investors, the suspects created several English-language websites pretending to be internationally recognized trading platforms. Then they communicated with investors through apps such as Telegram, Zoiper and Zalo, trying to mislead them and win their trust.

Victims initially made small transactions with it and mistakenly believed the platform allowed them to withdraw, which fostered their trust and made them invest more.

Even when losses occur and balances run out, the suspects encouraged victims to continue investing to “recover their losses” until the victims exhaust all their funds.