Vietnam police charge four in cross‑border high‑tech fraud ring

The Public Security Department of Phú Thọ province launched a criminal investigation after detecting a scheme to establish a high‑tech online fraud centre in Vietnam. The plan involved bringing fraud operators from Cambodia into the country and renting large numbers of villas, farms and village houses in Hanoi, Lào Cai and Phú Thọ for long‑term accommodation.

Police arrested four suspects – Zhao Wei Zhong (also known as A Châu), a Chinese national, and three Vietnamese nationals, Trần Thị Thu Hường, Phạm Đình Nam and Nguyễn Thành Long – and charged them with the crime of “organising illegal stay of foreigners in Vietnam.” The authorities seized dozens of computers, mobile phones, USB drives, Wi‑Fi devices and other equipment used to support the fraud operation. The operation was prevented before it could become active, and senior police officials were praised for the successful disruption of the trans‑national scam.