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.
