Cryptocurrency scam: Promised huge profits, lost billions of dong

Sophisticated tricks to lure participants

According to the report of Ms. D. (45 years old, Hanoi ), on July 21, 2025, she met someone online and was invited to invest in virtual currency on the Koi Global application. The subject initially proactively transferred 18 million VND for her to "try out", then Ms. D. deposited 60 million VND into the application and successfully withdrew 1.5 million VND in profit. Thinking this was an easy way to make money, she continued to deposit 5 more times, bringing the total investment amount to 350 million VND.

Once he had gained her trust, the subject asked Ms. D. to upgrade to a VIP 1 account for 30,000 USDT (equivalent to about 30,000 USD). She deposited an additional 280 million VND but it was still not enough to meet the required amount. At this time, the subject continuously sent threatening messages, forcing her to transfer more money. Realizing she had fallen into a trap, Ms. D. immediately reported to the police. The total amount of money appropriated was more than 600 million VND.

People need to be careful when investing virtual currency in the Koi Global application.

Previously, the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, Hanoi City Police also received a report from Ms. T. that she lost billions of dong due to investing in virtual currency.

Through the social network Facebook, Ms. T. (residing in Hanoi) made friends and chatted with the account "Nguyen Thi Thuy Dung" and participated in investing in virtual currency through the website: https://www.mcprimetrusted. Ms. T. followed the subject's instructions, created an account and transferred money to invest.

With attractive advertising, Ms. T. deposited 5 billion VND to receive 350,000 USDT (equivalent to 9 billion VND).

When Ms. T. wanted to withdraw the interest during the investment process, the subjects required her to pay another 20% of the total account balance, equivalent to 1.8 billion VND (within 5 hours); pay 15% of the deposit insurance purchase, equivalent to 1.6 billion VND; pay another 3%, equivalent to 360 million VND in fees to quickly transfer the money to her personal account. Ms. T. continued to pay 1.2 billion VND but still could not withdraw the money.

According to statistics from the authorities, Vietnam currently has nearly 26 million people owning digital currency, while the State has not recognized any type of digital currency. It is worth noting that the number of victims of virtual currency investment fraud in Vietnam may account for up to 2/3 of the number of fraud cases in cyberspace.

The Ministry of Public Security said that the scammers easily created stock exchanges, multi-level marketing, virtual currencies, etc., using social networks to advertise and recruit people to participate in investing with attractive promises such as: commitment to profit, high profits, easy money making, etc., causing many victims to fall into the trap and lose large sums of money. Most victims, when participating in investment, were given detailed advice on how to open an account, invest small amounts of money to try and receive corresponding interest rates in order to appeal to greed. After seeing that they could make money from these exchanges, the victims were invited to invest larger amounts of money and given many reasons for not being able to withdraw the money and having to pay more fees with the commitment that they would receive back all the fees and initial interest (payment system error, incorrect transaction content, wrong account, foreign tax authorities investigating, etc.) or lock the account, crash the trading floor and cut off contact with the victim.

What to do to protect yourself

Faced with the above situation, Hanoi City Police advise people to be vigilant with invitations to make friends or get acquainted on social networks or dating apps, especially invitations to invest in virtual currency with promises of high interest rates; do not participate in transactions or investments on virtual currency exchanges, websites, or applications because this field is not recognized by Vietnamese law and the exchanges do not have a legal representative in Vietnam.

At the same time, when detecting signs of fraud, it is necessary to immediately report to the police for timely verification and handling according to regulations.

The Department of Information Security ( Ministry of Information and Communications ) recommends that people should be cautious when being introduced to international securities investment, virtual currency, digital currency, especially when they do not have knowledge in the field of finance and securities. People should carefully refer to feedback and reviews from previous users about their experiences with the trading floor, financial company, and securities that they are interested in investing in.

In addition, people and investors should seek advice from experts and lawyers before investing to avoid losing money from investment floors and fraudulent companies. "People should only trade on floors licensed by the authorities. In particular, people should not share personal information with anyone in any form, do not download applications of unknown origin or click on strange links," the agency warned.

People need to be wary of friend requests and acquaintances on social networks or dating apps, especially invitations to invest in virtual currency that promise high interest rates.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, these subjects often proactively approach people to find ways to introduce and advertise the website or trading floor in which they are investing and gain high profits from this investment.

The methods of approaching victims by the subjects are very diverse, from advertising on social networks, or pretending to be successful businessmen to make friends, have long-term romantic conversations, and gradually attract investment.

The subjects find many ways to avoid meeting the victims, using the excuse of being abroad, on a business trip... faking the location to gain trust. They always act as co-investors, causing many victims, even though they suspect they are being scammed, to still trust their "friend" and continue to transfer money.

Victims are often taken to closed social media groups with many fake accounts acting as "order readers" and members participating in investments. The fake accounts often post successful money transfers or have received interest from investment floors after following the instructions of the "experts". When the victims show signs of suspicion and consider transferring money, the fake accounts continuously urge them to do so.

To avoid being scammed, according to the Ministry of Public Security, people need to be vigilant when investing in stocks, multi-level marketing, virtual currency... on online trading floors with unclear information or information that shows signs of being fake. Carefully research information about the trading floor before investing, especially investment floors that post virtual, fake, or fake addresses of legitimate investment floors.

People need to be more vigilant when communicating with strangers on social networks, absolutely do not share personal information, follow instructions when not yet accurately identifying the identity and background of that person. Only invest in official exchanges that have been licensed to operate by state management agencies. Before investing, you should go directly to the offices of the exchanges to get advice, support and verify information.

The Ministry of Public Security recommends that when people suspect that they are being scammed online, they should search for information about scams on the internet or ask for advice from friends and relatives. Do not hesitate to share the story you are experiencing, outsiders will always have a calmer and more alert mentality.

Immediately report the incident to the nearest police station to receive timely advice and support. People should contact the bank in charge to report the incident and request support.

In addition, you should also save all information such as chat history, phone numbers, related social media accounts, bank transaction statements and provide them to the police when reporting.

Reset passwords for personal accounts in case of personal information theft or electronic device hijacking. Warn friends and relatives about the scams you have encountered or are experiencing to proactively prevent them.

Source: https://khoahocdoisong.vn/bay-lua-tien-ao-hua-lai-khung-mat-trang-hang-ty-dong-post2149045245.html