Fall into the trap of VIP stock and virtual currency group

A series of closed chat groups labeled 'VIP', with high fees and many binding rules, violations will result in immediate removal from the group. In return, customers are given 'keys' to commands, promising to collect large profits from stocks and virtual currencies.

Illegal financial trading floor held a big party at a luxury hotel, made the photos public and posted them on social networks - Photo: BONG MAI

Financial investment scams - securities are increasingly diverse, causing many people to fall into traps, draining their money. Recently, many KOLs (influencers) have also joined in the invitation.

Paying fees is not enough

"If you don't join, then don't join. If you join, you will definitely get addicted," Mr. THTien (HCMC) recalls the time when he officially joined the VIP group, specializing in virtual currency trading commands. To be a member of the chat group, Mr. Tien had to pay 500 USD, equivalent to more than 13 million VND/month.

Morning, noon, afternoon, evening..., "experts" continuously send messages, "investors" just need to copy to trade, no need to analyze market developments.

"I got caught up without knowing it. I didn't place any orders because I was afraid of missing out on opportunities. I got stuck more and more," Mr. Tien felt.

Initially, players easily matched orders, closed profits and withdrew money, everything went quite smoothly. But stress often appeared when the screen reported a large profit, the system kept hanging, causing orders to be blocked, and the opportunity to make a profit passed.

Dozens of pending orders were not matched, and by the time the system was back up and running, the market had reversed, resulting in heavy losses. At this point, the "experts" in the group could not be blamed.

In another VIP chat group that specializes in discussing international stock trading, revolving around stocks of Apple, Microsoft, Coca Cola, Amazon, Tesla..., Mr. M.Hung (36 years old) was also caught up in the vortex.

In addition to the "entrance" fee, the group requires each member to transact at least 99,000 USD/month, equivalent to more than 2.6 billion VND/month. If they do not comply, they will be kicked out of the group immediately.

"A group has many administrators, responsible for providing information and firing orders. They set a series of strict rules, but when a member is deceived by the group admin, the rest immediately wash their hands of it," Mr. Hung said resentfully.

A member of Mr. Hung’s group was once scammed out of over 1 billion VND in just a few minutes because he listened to a new admin. When the incident was discovered, the group leader immediately posted a disclaimer, offering no compensation or explanation.

"Trading international stocks on an underground exchange, never knowing the faces of these admins, had to swallow the bitter pill," Mr. Hung said, adding that he had withdrawn from the group.

High commissions to attract participants

According to many social networking platforms, there are currently many people with the title of KOL in the virtual currency and international stock investment community, calling for transactions on illegal exchanges.

In addition to attracting money into transactions, they also promote affiliate marketing. Just by introducing more people to join the system, each day the referrer can easily pocket 2 - 5 million VND.

KOLs promote this as a way to "pick up spare change" without investing capital. Newcomers must download an application with an interface similar to the official exchange, log in and enter a code for the referrer to receive the initial commission. Next, the higher the frequency and amount of the prey's transactions, regardless of winning or losing, the higher the commission the inviter receives.

"Many people invest following the instructions of KOLs, and their accounts burn out as soon as they place an order. They lure us into a trap, and the guides are actually relatives and friends," Mr. NT shared.

According to Tuoi Tre, not only young people are caught up in illegal financial and stock investments, but many people aged 55 and older are also caught up in them, losing their savings for old age.

Securities company invests in "digital armor"

In the context of consecutive fraud cases, many securities companies quickly implemented investor protection.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Cuong - Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of KAFI Securities Joint Stock Company - commented that the phenomenon of impersonating authorities or large financial institutions to defraud customers not only occurs in the securities industry but is also common in the fields of finance - banking, insurance and other industries.

Realizing the danger level, the securities company quickly deployed security solutions, monitored the system, increased communication and warnings. In addition, KAFI also made efforts to closely coordinate with management agencies, partner banks and functional units to promptly handle incidents, as well as regularly update and apply advanced information security standards, ensuring maximum safety for customers.

Many other securities companies such as SSI, VNDirect, HSC, VPS, Mirae Asset... also continuously issue warnings about scams, from impersonating employees and leaders, creating "internal" chat groups, to using deepfake videos of influential people... to lure investors.

Securities companies recommend that customers avoid accessing links or applications of unknown origin, and only conduct transactions through official channels. Participating in applications and websites impersonating financial exchanges, securities or illegal virtual currencies poses a potential risk to investors, both financially and mentally.

Warning "intensive investment package"

Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) issued a warning. Accordingly, the fraud group drafted a fake document called "Decision on Investment Package Operation", which appeared to be sent to all members participating in the trading floor.

This document promotes an "intensive investment package", limited to only 10 slots and requires investors to quickly register, provide personal information (exchange login name, citizen identification) to "make insurance and capital contracts" accordingly. Notably, the scam group also introduced a "capital insurance" policy, in case of losing investments, money will not be lost, guaranteed profit.

In addition to the false information, the document also impersonated the signature of the deputy general director of HoSE, along with the unit's seal.

According to records, many other agencies such as the Ministry of Finance , the State Securities Commission, the Hanoi Stock Exchange, the State Bank... are also being forged by criminals to lure gullible people into participating in illegal and unofficial stock investment channels.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sap-bay-voi-nhom-vip-chung-khoan-tien-ao-20250907232855919.htm