Ha Tinh Police on August 16 publicized the swindlers' statements after arresting 155 individuals involved in an international scam organization operating in the Golden Triangle in Bokeo province in Laos.

Dinh Van Chau was the leader of a team in the ring. Working in Bokeo province, Chau met someone who said he was setting up a business and invited Chau to develop the business together.

At first, the business shared profits with Chau and appointed him to a position. In return, he signed a contract which said he would have to pay VND70 million in compensation if he wanted to return to Vietnam.

Chau became a leader of a team under the management of superiors. His job at the office was to supervise workers. When his superiors assigned tasks, he would inform the members of the team.

“Workers were told to make friends on social networks and keep chatting with the so-called friend.  Communications via social media allowed us to gain the confidence of the friends, who would become the victims."

According to Chau, workers had to obtain two new clients, mostly single women, in an aim to create a close relationship with them, and then persuade them to log into apps written by the company to call for investment. Finally, they appropriated the investors’ assets.

The swindlers sought clients based on documents provided by the company. The document showed how to find clients, make their acquaintance, exchange greetings, and communicate with them.

A woman involved in the scam ring said the company promised to pay her 5,000 yuan a month in salary. However, as she did not have revenue in the first two months and was fined, she received 4,000 yuan in total. She was told to give bogus Facebook accounts to members of the team to communicate with middle-aged Vietnamese women.

She said if someone could not find a client within three days, they would have their money deducted, forced to do push-ups, and would be beaten.

“I wanted to escape the ring, but I couldn’t leave the building. I called some people to borrow money to pay to the ring’s leaders in exchange for my leave, but I failed,” the woman said. 

The police discovered that the ring had cheated more than 200 Vietnamese. 

Thien Luong