VietNamNet Bridge – Public security officers in HCM City arrested last Thursday a group of 52 people from mainland China and Taiwan on charges of swindling by using hi-tech telecom devices.

Photo: VNN

These foreigners were using the internet and hi-tech telecommunication devices to commit theft when local public security force broke into the two villas they rented in District 2's Thao Dien Ward on Thursday morning.

The police seized 21 laptops, 18 internet modems, 58 voice IP devices, 77 landline telephones, 25 mobile phones, and cash in Vietnamese, Chinese and Taiwanese currencies, according to the city's public security department.

Initial investigations showed that the foreigners were allegedly part of a transnational swindling ring, police said.

The Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper quoted the public security department as saying that the arrested men entered Viet Nam on tourist visas where they rented houses and registered to use the internet.

They disguised themselves on the internet as Chinese public security officials and told people they were conducting criminal investigations.

They asked people to transfer money to designated accounts so they could trace the crimes they were investigating.

According to city police, people who commit these kinds of crime typically stay in one country for a few months and then move to another country to avoid detection by the police.

Source: VNS