Why do many people still fall into the trap of "ghost" virtual currency projects and lose billions?

(NLDO)- Experts recommend that people do not participate in unlicensed virtual currency projects and do not believe in "super-profit" advertisements.

As reported by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper , on the afternoon of October 14, Hanoi City Police prosecuted Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh (Shark Binh) - Chairman of NextTech Group Joint Stock Company and 9 others for fraud and violation of accounting regulations causing serious consequences.

According to the investigation agency's accusation, in 2021, Mr. Nguyen Hoa Binh and a number of experts developed the "AntEx digital currency" project, promoted it widely on social networks, and committed to investing 50 million USD through the Next100 Blockchain fund.

However, the authorities determined that the project was not implemented as committed. Instead of developing the product, the group withdrew money from the general wallet, transferred it to personal wallets and companies in the NextTech ecosystem, appropriating the assets of about 30,000 investors, with an exceptionally large amount of money.

Before the AntEx case, a series of "ghost" virtual currency projects were also destroyed by the authorities with similar tricks. In August 2025, Hanoi City Police arrested the group operating Wingstep and Naga Kingdom, defrauding more than 3,000 people with a total amount of about 200 billion VND.

In May 2025, Dong Nai Provincial Police dismantled the Matrix Chain (MTC) network - a virtual currency multi-level marketing model that appropriated nearly 10,000 billion VND, considered the largest digital currency fraud in Vietnam.

It is worth mentioning that, despite the continuous warnings from authorities and experts, many people are still drawn into unlicensed projects because they believe in the "dream of changing their lives". Mr. NN (living in Ho Chi Minh City) shared: "During COVID-19, when virtual currency prices increased, I invested in several projects advertised online. At first, I made a profit of 15%-20% per day, but when I wanted to withdraw money, I couldn't, and then the project "evaporated". I lost more than 80% of my capital and I don't know if I was scammed or if it was the market."

People need to be vigilant against super-profitable advertisements of fraudulent virtual currency projects.

Ms. Le Ngoc My Tien, co-founder and General Director of BlockchainWork Joint Stock Company, said that the main reason why many people are deceived is greed and lack of knowledge.

Scam projects often promise unusually high returns, initially paying interest on time to build trust, then luring participants to attract new people with attractive commission promises.

"This is a familiar trick of virtual currency scam projects. Although authorities and experts have warned many times, many people are still drawn in by the allure of super-huge profits and become victims," ​​said Ms. Tien.

A business director in the blockchain field added that fraudulent projects often disguise themselves as international brands, with names similar to reputable exchanges such as Binance or the world's largest digital currency, Bitcoin, and apply a multi-level marketing model, taking money from later investors to pay earlier investors, advertising profits of hundreds of percent per year.

Not stopping there, they also create images of successful businessmen, show off supercars, villas, or invite famous people to promote to appeal to the crowd's psychology.

"Many investors, despite losing money, still do not realize they have been scammed and still think that investing is risky, while in reality they have put money into a fake project," the director shared.

From the above incidents, these experts recommend that people absolutely do not participate in unlicensed virtual currency projects, do not believe in advertisements of super profits or endorsements from famous people.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/vi-sao-nhieu-nguoi-van-sap-bay-mat-tien-ti-vao-cac-du-an-tien-ao-ma-196251019122525776.htm