Quang Ninh Police Stop 12 Foreigners Running Scams That Impersonated Korean Police From a Bai Chay Apartment

Police in Quang Ninh, northern Vietnam, have stopped a group of 10 South Korean and 2 Chinese nationals who were running online fraud from a rented apartment in Bai Chay ward. Four face international arrest warrants. Police say six others in the group are wanted by South Korean authorities. Quang Ninh's criminal police announced the case on 11 November, without saying when the apartment was searched.

How the scam worked

Tien Phong reports that the group took people's money by posing as Korean police, prosecutors and authorities. Bao ve Phap luat says some members also pretended to be Korean banks and loan companies to collect personal information, which was used for fraud or sold on.

According to the suspects' first statements, the group targeted mainly Korean people.

Officers are checking the suspects' phones and computers.

What happens to the suspects

The police reported the case to the Ministry of Public Security and asked to work with Korean and Chinese authorities to deal with and hand over the twelve. Neither report gives a date for the handover.

The same ward, three months earlier

In August the Ministry of Public Security said Quang Ninh police had found five South Koreans wanted through INTERPOL in an apartment in Bai Chay ward. That group targeted Korean people and Korean businesses, posing as suppliers and keeping the payments. Police seized 14 laptops, 13 tablets and 12 phones. The five were handed to Korean authorities and deported through Hanoi's Noi Bai airport on 6 August.