Vietnam police detain five suspects in multi‑billion‑dong online investment fraud

The Public Security Department of Bac Ninh province announced the arrest of five individuals accused of a large‑scale online fraud that siphoned more than 7 billion Vietnamese đồng from victims. The suspects – Phang Văn Ý, Vi Đức Sang, Ngân Tiến Duy (born 1998), Bùi Quang Huy and Lô Văn Quang – allegedly operated from the Bokeo Economic Zone in Laos, using disposable SIM cards to create fake Facebook and Zalo profiles that pretended to be successful entrepreneurs. They lured Vietnamese investors to a fraudulent platform (bitsten.hlkp.mom), received the funds through intermediary accounts, then cut off contact and embezzled the money.

The investigation, spanning 2022‑2025, led to the prosecution and temporary detention of the five suspects, who are now facing charges of "fraud and appropriation of property".