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Vietnamese police have dismantled a large-scale online gambling and fraud syndicate, arresting 35 suspects accused of defrauding victims of about $350 million.
Authorities in Hung Yen province said the arrests were carried out on December 31 across five northern localities, including the capital, Hanoi.
In a statement released on Tuesday, police said the suspects relied on advanced technology to run coordinated online fraud and illegal gambling operations.
Investigators said the group advertised goods for sale on social media platforms but failed to deliver after receiving payments. Once funds were transferred, the suspects reportedly deleted their online profiles to evade identification.
Police added that the proceeds were subsequently funnelled into online gambling accounts, a tactic aimed at concealing the money trail and avoiding detection.
During the operation, officers seized five vehicles and 42 mobile phones, while 125 bank accounts across 16 financial institutions were frozen.
The crackdown follows a similar case in mid-December, when police in Lang Son province arrested 22 Vietnamese nationals in Cambodia in a joint cross-border operation. That network allegedly defrauded around 3,000 victims of approximately $285 million.
Vietnamese authorities have warned that online fraud has become a growing threat, with victims losing an estimated $1.5 billion in more than 24,000 cases since 2020.
