Thousands scammed in 'TikTok gifts' fraud scheme

On Wednesday, police in the central province of Dak Lak arrested H'Nguyen, 40, Nguyen Thanh Nhan, 37, Nguyen Tran Trung Hieu, 25, and Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, 36, on charges of fraud and property appropriation.

The group was part of a network that accessed the personal information of 50,000 people and made over 100,000 scam calls daily.

Preliminary investigations estimate that the network stole trillions of dong (VND1 trillion = US$40 million), with the Dak Lak group receiving over VND200 billion in payments.Some victims lost substantial amounts, including one who was defrauded out of more than VND1 billion.

H'Nguyen Nie Kdam (seated) with three accomplices at the police office. Photo courtesy of Dak Lak Police

In early 2024 H'Nguyen was recruited via Telegram by an unidentified individual to join the scam network. She then hired a large telesales team, delegating management and payment duties to Nhan, Hieu and Ngoc.

Her staff posed as representatives of "TikTok Technology Co. Ltd.," informed victims they had won "TikTok appreciation gifts" and told them to provide personal information and connect with a "company account" on the Zalo messaging app to confirm delivery details, drawing them deeper into the scam.

The group also promoted "work-from-home" schemes, where victims were paid to interact with social media content. Initially, small payments were made to gain trust. Once trust was established, victims were offered "e-commerce tasks" that promised commissions for purchasing products.

Victims were assured their initial payments would be refunded along with 20-30% commissions. While smaller transactions were refunded as promised, larger ones were blocked using fabricated issues, allowing the scammers to freeze accounts and pocket the money.

Employees received VND30,000 for a successful scam call, and each earned an average of VND300,000-600,000 daily.

H'Nguyen instructed the team to use mobile devices, computers and specialized software for Internet-based calls to avoid detection. The group also installed three high-speed Internet connections and erased platform data every 15 days to destroy evidence.

The investigation is continuing, and authorities also have 57 others under their scanner.