Transacting billions of dong in gold online
In recent days, gold prices have fluctuated strongly, causing people to rush to buy and sell to make a profit. Many surfers earned tens of millions of VND in a short time, but there were also people who suffered heavy losses. Taking advantage of this psychology, scammers launch many familiar tricks to appropriate property through online gold transactions.
The editing office of Lao Dong Newspaper continuously received complaints about online gold purchases at Kim Nguyen Bao gold shop (Cach Mang Thang Tam street, Hoa Hung ward) but were not implemented as scheduled.
Ms. T.N.B.T (residing in Phu Nhuan Ward) said that she had known about Kim Nguyen Bao gold shop through Facebook advertisements and checked that the shop had a full business license. Since October 2025, Ms. T has bought many 9999 gold products and shopping vouchers through the store's KNB - Online Gold Jewelry application, with a total amount of VND 41,180,000. Initially, the store scheduled to deliver the goods after 7 days, but then continuously delayed.
On the morning of November 13, the store reported a problem with the application, then reported that the gold truck was late and when customers arrived at the business address, they saw that the store had cleaned up the products, leaving only a few employees. The legal representative, Ms. N.T.T.L, promised to resolve the matter but later did not respond. Ms. T said that the behavior of Ha Tich Thuy Company Limited (the company that owns Kim Nguyen Bao gold shop) used fraudulent tricks to appropriate property, showing signs of committing a crime.
Similarly, Ms. N.T.M.D (residing in Phu Tho Hoa ward) said that because she trusted the business establishment to be legally registered, she had made many gold purchases under the guidance of the store staff, with a total amount of up to VND2.67 billion.
The store opened in March 2025, Ms. N.T.M.D started trading in August and received goods on time. However, in the November purchase period, the store did not fulfill its commitment. On the morning of November 13, she discovered that the KNB application could not be accessed and when she contacted the store owner, she was informed that the app was being maintained and scheduled to deliver gold at 10:00 and 12:00 respectively, but the goods still did not arrive.
Ms. N.T.M.D emphasized that all transactions, deposits and instructions are directed by the shop owner, including promotional programs such as a voucher with 2 million VND discount of 10%, a voucher with 10 million VND discount of 10%, a discount of 1% for new customers and a commission of 1% for introducers with successful orders. Before that, she also bought gold and transferred it directly to Ms. N.T.T.L's account, but now the shop owner denies receiving the money and does not make the transaction, causing her to determine that she has been scammed and appropriated a large sum of money.
According to the reporter's research, more than 100 customers have submitted complaints, with a total estimated value of billions of VND. Many victims have filed complaints with the Economic Police Department, Ho Chi Minh City Police to request an investigation to clarify acts showing signs of fraud and property appropriation.
Online gold scams are becoming more and more sophisticated, buyers are likely to fall into the cheap trap
According to cybersecurity experts, online gold scams are not new, but have recently been "upgraded" to be more sophisticated, targeting the psychology of wanting to buy cheap gold or buying for promotions. The subjects often hide in the group "Buy and sell gold", use anonymous accounts to post sales or create fanpages impersonating reputable brands to run ads. Many pages also post fake transfer bills, creating virtual interactions such as "thank you customers", making buyers mistakenly believe that the store is operating legally.
Many subjects buy back Facebook accounts with blue marked fees, change their names to large gold brands and then launch advertisements such as: "Special promotions, cheaper than the market"; "Grand promotions to welcome corporate events"; "Online deposits - limited quantity, best price on the market"... After attracting victims, they ask to transfer money to personal accounts, not matching the business name, which is an easily recognizable sign of fraud.
In addition to selling counterfeit gold online, some subjects also implement the trick of "investing in high-yielding gold", mobilizing capital in groups, committing to sharing profits after 3 - 5 months. When buyers are still suspicious, they continue to impersonate financial consultants, sending links containing malware to steal bank information. Others use the reward scenario, sending emails or messages impersonating gold enterprises, asking people to pay reward fees or income tax, thereby appropriating property.
Previously, Ho Chi Minh City Police warned that buying and selling gold through social networks and unlicensed platforms has great potential risks. This is also an illegal form of trading because gold is a conditional trading item.
The police recommend that people should only transact at licensed stores, banks or businesses; carefully check the website, fanpage, history of operations; verify the payment account number before transferring money and absolutely do not transfer money to personal accounts that do not match the business name. When detecting signs of suspicion or property appropriation, people need to quickly report to the nearest police station for timely support.
