Arrested with 5 trillion VND, what was the scam scheme of TikToker Mr. Pips?

Before being prosecuted, TikToker Mr. Pips was famous on social media for his videos teaching international stock market investing, Forex trading, and frequently showing off huge profits.

Phó Đức Nam frequently posts videos teaching investment strategies on foreign exchange and stock trading platforms. He also created "Mr Pips Trading Chat" - a financial investment community.

As reported by Tuoi Tre newspaper , the police have initiated a criminal case and indicted Pho Duc Nam (also known as TikToker Mr. Pips) and 24 others on charges of "fraudulent appropriation of property," "failure to report a crime," and "money laundering."

Initial investigations have determined that Pho Duc Nam colluded with Le Khac Ngo to establish a fraud ring that defrauded people of their assets, following the model of securities brokerage firms.

Who is TikToker Mr. Pips?

Before being prosecuted, Pho Duc Nam (born in 1994), known by the nickname "Mr Pips," was famous on social media platforms through numerous videos teaching how to get rich through investing or aiming to build a financial investment community.

On apps like TikTok and YouTube, the most recent clip Mr. Pips uploaded was over two months ago. Since then, there haven't been any new clips until the "hot" news broke that this TikToker was being prosecuted.

Notably, with his constant flaunting of money and luxury cars, many of Pho Duc Nam's videos teaching how to get rich and how to invest attract hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. Besides showing off profits and wealth, Pho Duc Nam also frequently offers his analyses, opinions, and predictions about gold prices, cryptocurrencies, and other topics.

Clip of Mr. Pips teaching investing - Screenshot from the clip

In a video over an hour long, posted in August of this year, Pho Duc Nam livestreamed "practical" investment training in the fields of international stocks, Forex, etc. Nam advised anyone who wants to invest "seriously" not to put in 5 million VND, but to have a capital of several thousand USD.

"I have a trading account with up to $2 million USD... Many people ask me how rich I am in Vietnam?", Nam said, showing off his profitable portfolio to the members.

To recruit more members to his group, Nam frequently showed off Telegram chat groups with hundreds of members. Nam's group operation involved "showing" product catalogs for members to join through a "copy-trade" model.

In investing, "copy-trading" is a form of trading where the ultimate goal is for the copycat to profit without having to spend time researching the market. Profit or loss depends on the performance of the copied accounts.

Therefore, to attract members, Nam frequently boasts about his "profit-making" ventures. In many videos, Mr. Pips even expresses "philosophy" or a desire to build a healthy financial investment community in Vietnam, thereby providing investment knowledge to many people.

What should investors keep in mind?

After news broke that Pho Duc Nam had been indicted, many people realized that TikToker Mr. Pips and his accomplices had been operating under the guise of a company and website to provide financial investment advice and stock brokerage services for stocks like Facebook, Apple, Pepsi, Microsoft, and Adidas, in order to entice and lure customers into participating.

After the victims have lost all their money, this group will continue to invite them to join a new platform with more attractive offers and promises of winning back the lost money, in order to continue to defraud the victims of their assets.

Notably, during the emergency search of the suspects' residences and workplaces, the investigating agency seized and froze assets belonging to the suspects totaling over 5,000 billion VND.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online, the director of a securities company warned that the State Bank of Vietnam has not licensed any Forex trading platforms to operate in Vietnam. In addition, numerous scams have emerged recently under the guise of "international stock market" investments, and people need to be extremely cautious.

"Scammers set up stock exchanges, multi-level marketing schemes, and cryptocurrency platforms, then continuously entice and invite people to invest with attractive promises such as guaranteed profits, high returns, and easy money-making opportunities," this person said.

According to this source, copy-trading is a passive investment method, essentially managing assets with the support of technology, creating a novel form and adding more options for investors. However, this method is also exploited by scammers in international stock markets, cryptocurrencies, etc., to entice inexperienced investors who want to make a profit.

Numerous social media accounts are offering international stock market investments.

On many forums and social media platforms, there are numerous advertising accounts promising multiplied profits in a short time without requiring much thought or effort, simply by copying the portfolios of "masters" and "super traders." However, many of these accounts also solicit investments in international stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other commodities.

Unlike traditional scams, these scammers instruct investors to "copy" the portfolios of "super-skilled" investors, with profits split 7-3. This means investors "don't need to do anything," they only need to invest capital but receive 70% of the profit, with the remaining 30% being a "commission." To avoid being scammed, authorities have repeatedly advised people to be vigilant and only trust reputable and verified trading platforms and entities.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bi-bat-cung-5-000-ti-thu-doan-lua-dao-cuatiktoker-mr-pips-la-gi-20241206213003798.htm