Vietnam police dismantle iPhone control fraud ring

The criminal investigation department of Ninh Binh police arrested 16 suspects in a sophisticated iPhone‑hijacking scheme that targeted users of the popular mobile game Free Fire. The ring operated from two separate apartments in Hanoi, led by Trần Văn Tâm and Mai Tiến Giáp, and lured victims with high‑paying "game‑farming" jobs. Victims were instructed to log into a provided iCloud account on their iPhone; the perpetrators then accessed the devices remotely, locked them, erased data and demanded ransom based on the phone’s value. The operation, active since February 2026, is reported to have extorted tens of billions of Vietnamese đồng nationwide. All 16 suspects are being held for further investigation, and authorities warn users to never log into unknown iCloud accounts or share personal credentials online.