Warning about cryptocurrency scams.

VTV.vn - The cryptocurrency market has great potential but also harbors many risks because there is absolutely no price floor or ceiling, leading to the possibility of asset values ​​skyrocketing or plummeting.

The cryptocurrency project is scamming investors.

Once touted and hyped as a "made in Vietnam" e-wallet project, and promised to build a Vietnamese cryptocurrency ecosystem, the Antex project turned out to be nothing more than other scams. According to Hanoi police, approximately 30,000 investors were defrauded of around 117 billion VND. Police have recently cracked down on numerous fraudulent cryptocurrency projects that have caused significant losses to investors, including cases involving the misappropriation of nearly 10,000 billion VND.

The "Antex digital currency" project by Nguyen Hoa Binh and his associates made promises and commitments to building a "VNDT digital currency" ecosystem and a VNDT e-wallet software "made in Vietnam".

Nguyen Hoa Binh and his accomplices secretly withdrew money from Antex's main wallet, transferred it to their personal wallets, and converted it to VND to share among themselves. Hanoi police investigators determined that approximately 30,000 investor wallets had money withdrawn from them, resulting in a particularly large total amount of money stolen.

In September, the Criminal Police Department ( Ministry of Public Security ), in coordination with the Hanoi Police, dismantled a fraud ring operating through the virtual currency project WorldMall.app. The perpetrators developed their own application, issued WM tokens, organized seminars, and conducted extensive live broadcasts to promote the scheme, even creating images of "foreign" leaders to build trust. They promised profits of 8-21% per year, attracting thousands of participants within just a few months. Investigators determined this was a disguised Ponzi scheme, where money from later investors was used to pay earlier investors until the money flow ceased.

Last August, the Phu Tho Provincial Police, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, dismantled a criminal group using PaynetCoin (PAYN) – an illegal multi-level marketing scheme. Since 2021, this group had built a "pyramid scheme" model, promising interest rates of 5-9% per month, and allowing conversion to USD. The perpetrators claimed PAYN was registered in the US and could be used to pay for airline tickets and hotel bookings, but in reality, no agency accepted it. As a result, thousands of people fell victim, losing hundreds of billions of VND.

In May 2025, the Dong Nai Provincial Police dismantled the MTC - Matrix Chain cryptocurrency scam, defrauding nearly 10,000 billion VND from tens of thousands of investors. This is considered the largest cryptocurrency scam ever in Vietnam, using a multi-level fundraising model and promising returns many times higher than bank deposits.

Nguyen Hoa Binh and his accomplices secretly withdrew money from Antex's main wallet, transferred it to their personal wallets, and converted it to VND to share among themselves.

Exploiting investor trust.

The most talked-about case these days is the Antex cryptocurrency scam. Having raised capital from tens of thousands of investors with the promise of "building a Vietnamese cryptocurrency ecosystem," Nguyen Hoa Binh – Chairman of NextTech Group Joint Stock Company – and his accomplices have been accused of embezzling an exceptionally large sum of money, amounting to hundreds of billions of VND. Police investigators believe the group employed sophisticated tactics to build investor trust before profiting illegally.

At the time of its launch, Antex was known as a project that received a $2.5 million investment from NextTech Group and a venture capital fund chaired by Nguyen Hoa Binh.

On the project's homepage, Nguyen Hoa Binh was introduced as an investor and senior advisor. However, after listing, the cryptocurrency's value quickly plummeted by 99%, causing many investors to lose money. Antex subsequently became almost inactive. Initial investigations by authorities revealed that Nguyen Hoa Binh's promises existed only on paper. Products such as the VNDT wallet and the blockchain exchange were not completed on schedule.

The advertisements were merely promises, such as: this cryptocurrency can be used as a tool to buy, sell, and exchange with over 100 other cryptocurrencies, linked to e-wallets like Ngan Luong, Vimo, and Tien Ngay for payments. Or, through this platform, users can deposit VNDT, use it as collateral to borrow money... Through this ecosystem, the perpetrators sought to conceal the flow of stolen funds.

Major General Duong Duc Hai, Deputy Director of the Hanoi City Police, stated: "The Ngan Luong payment gateway is one of the payment gateways related to the ecosystem of the suspect Binh. We are also clarifying many activities related to the money transfer ecosystem at Ngan Luong company. We are focusing on investigating and clarifying many other financial activities."

Colonel Doan Kien Trung - Deputy Head of the Economic Police Department, Hanoi City Police, shared: "During the investigation and crackdown, we also determined that Next Tech's ecosystem includes a digital wallet. This is a payment gateway, facilitating money transfers through the wallet. With Shark Binh's ecosystem, the charges are not limited to just two offenses."

According to the investigating police agency, the most sophisticated tactic in this case was manipulating investor psychology. When the price of Antex cryptocurrency plummeted, the group continued to reassure the community, repeatedly announcing "new directions" and "next investment plans" to prevent a massive withdrawal of funds. This is a typical example of psychological manipulation in virtual asset investment models. When trust is exploited, investors easily fall prey to the "herd mentality," ignoring signs of legal risks.

Like many other cryptocurrency projects, Antex relies on the same formula: under the guise of developing a "financial ecosystem 4.0," the project solicits tens of thousands of investors in its self-issued cryptocurrency, promising high returns and referral commissions. In reality, this is a disguised, unlicensed multi-level marketing scheme that uses the reputation of famous businessmen to build trust, then defrauds investors of hundreds of billions of dong.

On September 9, 2025, the Government issued Resolution 05 on piloting the cryptocurrency market.

Risk identification signs

Fraudulent cryptocurrency projects like Antex, which involved the misappropriation of assets, occurred during a period when there was no complete legal framework for crypto assets. Many people also lacked the knowledge to recognize the signs of risk.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan Cuong - Department 4, Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Bureau, Ministry of Public Security, recommended: "Through our professional work and monitoring of virtual and crypto assets, we have noticed several prominent signs indicating that these projects are related to fraud and asset misappropriation. Specifically, regarding interest rates, these individuals are offering unusually high interest rates compared to other business models, such as providing interest rates up to 1% per day. Therefore, no traditional business model or current business model can offer such high interest rates."

Secondly, there is no risk involved in the investment. Typically, these individuals will offer capital insurance to investors. While investment inherently involves risk, in this case, they offer risk insurance to investors. This creates a sense of security and encourages them to readily invest in their projects.

Thirdly, they present a future vision, building a project that could replace Bitcoin. Currently, the value of Bitcoin is around $110,000 per coin. By promoting this project as a replacement for Bitcoin, they create expectations for investors that investing now will yield huge profits in the future. This is why more and more people are investing in virtual assets and cryptocurrencies."

According to statistics, up to 20 million Vietnamese people own digital assets in cyberspace. Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan Cuong - Department 4, Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, Ministry of Public Security, stated: "Currently, Vietnamese law prohibits the use of virtual assets and crypto assets as a means of payment. Intentionally using virtual or crypto assets as a means of payment will be prosecuted under the Criminal Code. In addition, the State Bank of Vietnam has issued a directive prohibiting credit institutions from providing intermediary payment services or payment services for activities related to virtual or crypto assets."

On September 9, 2025, the Government issued Resolution 05 on piloting the cryptocurrency market. In June, the National Assembly also enacted and passed the Law on Digital Technology Industry, which officially came into effect on January 1, 2026. Accordingly, virtual assets and cryptocurrency assets will be considered a type of asset under the Civil Code.

Vietnam has only recently begun piloting a cryptocurrency market under Government Resolution 05, which came into effect on September 9th of this year. This is also an effort by state management agencies to prevent individuals from exploiting legal loopholes to illegally raise capital.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Tuan Cuong further advised the public: "Currently, when people want to participate in virtual asset or cryptocurrency investment projects, they need to thoroughly research the project, specifically its development roadmap and development team. Don't trust influencers on social media like KOLs or KOCs. When they promote such projects, you need to really investigate and understand them. Besides that, we need to be clearly aware of the potential risks when investing in virtual asset or cryptocurrency projects, because profit always comes with risk. On October 10th, the value of Bitcoin dropped from $120,000 per coin to $102,000 per coin in just a few hours, leading to many investors losing their accounts."

Furthermore, in the near future, when domestic cryptocurrency exchanges are licensed under Government Resolution No. 05, and the Law on Digital Technology Industry officially comes into effect on January 1, 2026, we recommend that Vietnamese investors participate in cryptocurrency investment on domestic exchanges. By participating in cryptocurrency trading and investment on domestic exchanges, Vietnamese investors will have their legal rights and interests protected. This will also contribute to removing Vietnam from the FATF's gray list on anti-money laundering.

The cryptocurrency market is a potentially lucrative market, but it also carries significant risks because there are no price floors or ceilings, meaning asset values ​​can skyrocket or plummet in a matter of seconds. Investors need to thoroughly research this market before participating, and be wary of enticing promises from projects, such as "extremely high returns" or "risk-free" investments.

Source: https://vtv.vn/canh-bao-bay-lua-tien-ao-100251016195643978.htm