This case did not involve a particularly new scheme, but it was carried out ruthlessly. According to a local police report, a transnational online fraud ring had long been livestreaming on Facebook, using the pretense of selling “scratch-off lottery tickets” and “winning lottery tickets” to lure people in. Once victims believed them, they were first persuaded to transfer money to buy so-called lottery packages, and later induced to pay “prize collection fees.” Once the money was sent, it was basically impossible to get back.
Police found that the Facebook pages involved were mainly two: “Vé Số Đại Lộc 999” and “Vé Số Kiến Thiết 86.” The group used multiple illicit social media accounts and bank accounts, first fabricating winning scenarios, then using fake banking apps and forged transfer receipts to win trust. After victims sent money, they moved it through multiple bank accounts and e-wallets, passing it through layer upon layer in an attempt to obscure the source of the funds. Preliminary findings show that hundreds of victims across the country had already been deceived, involving sums as high as tens of billions of Vietnamese dong.
The investigation showed that the ring was led by Deng Yushi and Zhang Yue Ruan, each of whom managed an independent subgroup. Later, the two became connected and carried out the fraud together. To evade crackdowns by Vietnamese law enforcement, members of the group went to Laos’ Khammouane Province to rent premises and set up equipment, remotely operating those fake Facebook pages. Also implicated in the case are Huang Wenya, Huang Duanwu, Huang Guoqiang, and Huang Shi Biyu.
The case was later unraveled through the joint efforts of multiple departments. Local police said the special task force worked with relevant professional units, the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security’s representative office in Laos, border defense forces in Ha Tinh Province, the border guard station at Diaoqiao International Border Gate, and commercial banks, verifying information and tracking fund flows while monitoring the suspects’ movements. When the group re-entered Vietnam, police arrested them all in one operation at the border crossing.
At present, the Phu Tho Provincial Public Security Department has opened a case and prosecuted Deng Yushi, Huang Wenya, Huang Duanwu, Huang Guoqiang, Huang Shi Biyu, and Zhang Yue Ruan under Article 174 of the Criminal Code for “fraudulent appropriation of property.” The investigation is still being expanded, and related individuals and assets involved in the case are also being traced.
Mobile livestream selling is already highly active there, but when terms like “winning,” “prize collection fee,” and “transfer money first” come up, many locals now stop for a moment and think twice, so they do not let a moment of greed send their hard-earned money into someone else’s pocket.
