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Recently, cryptocurrency investment fraud in Vietnam has become increasingly complex, causing damage to thousands of investors. Recently, the Cybersecurity and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, in coordination with the Criminal Police Department of Hanoi City Police, has dismantled a group of subjects organizing illegal cryptocurrency project issuance and promotion, embezzling a massive amount of up to 7.86 million USD (equivalent to nearly 200 billion dong) from over 3,000 accounts.
Sophisticated Capital Raising Tricks through Virtual Currency and Non-Fungible Tokens
Through investigation, the authorities identified the ringleader as Dang Quoc Thang (born in 1986, residing in Hanoi). Thang established Maxx Group company and directly managed the cryptocurrency projects "Wingstep" and "Game Naga Kingdom".
Thang's accomplice is Ngo Khac Trung (born in 1991, Thanh Hoa), the legal representative of Maxx Group Vietnam, responsible for promotion and attracting investors.
In the Wingstep project, investors were instructed to download the application from the website "moiza.io", deposit BUSD cryptocurrency (exchange rate 1 BUSD = 1 USD) to buy Non-Fungible Token shoes priced from 100 to 1,200 USD per pair. Participants were promised to earn profits by walking or running, thereby receiving rewards in WST tokens which could be converted to BUSD.
Thang claimed the project was from South Korea and would bring long-term profits. He even applied a multi-level model, paying 5% commission to direct invitees (F1) and 3% to indirect invitees (F2). After several promotional campaigns, Wingstep attracted about 50 investors, with capital reaching 300,000 USD (equivalent to 7.2 billion dong). However, after just three months of operation, the project "collapsed", and investors lost everything.
Similarly, in the Game Naga Kingdom project, Thang collaborated with Nguyen Thanh Loc (born in 1997, Ninh Binh). Participants had to buy "spirit animal" Non-Fungible Tokens like Monkey, Chicken, Dog, Pig... priced from tens to hundreds of millions of dong. For example, the Pig Non-Fungible Token was advertised for 400 million dong. Players were promised profits of 5–8%/month, along with a commission system up to 10% for multiple levels.
However, after three months of operation, the project also collapsed, causing 20 investors to lose a total of 60,000 USD (1.5 billion dong).
Familiar Tactics That Still Trap Many People
According to their statements, the subjects admitted that these projects were not licensed in Vietnam. The main purpose was simply to embezzle money, but they still promoted them as "international projects with high profits and quick capital recovery".
This is not a new tactic, but many people still fall into the trap due to greed and lack of financial knowledge. These projects typically target the psychology of wanting to make money quickly, promising passive income just by walking, playing games, or inviting more participants.
