Loan "in the wallet" but money never comes back
At the end of March 2026, Mr. Le Van Tinh (name changed, residing in Hai Phong City) accessed the website miraassetlending.com - a platform with an interface similar to reputable financial companies. As soon as he logged in, the system displayed a personalized greeting and a loan of 50 million VND that had been "approved", with a payment term of 48 months.
The interface is professionally designed with items such as "Lease Application", "Wallet", "Lease History"... making Mr. Tinh quickly trust. However, when clicking to withdraw money, the system requested to pay 500,000 VND in application fees to activate the loan.
After transferring money, the account showed success, but the money had not yet been disbursed. He was continuously asked to pay additional fees, totaling nearly 8 million VND, but the loan was still not processed. When stopped, the account was locked and all contacts were cut off. He discovered he had been deceived when he could not manage to raise more money.
Not only building fake websites, scam lines also take advantage of social networks to approach victims, and at the same time use "junk" SIM cards and "virtual" bank accounts to hide their identities.
Lao Cai Provincial Police said they have initiated a case of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" related to online lending. Through investigation, subjects using TikTok posted video advertisements for unsecured loans with low interest rates and simple procedures to attract people in need.
When victims contact via Zalo, they impersonate consultants, appraise dossiers to create trust. The entire process of exchange takes place through unclaimed phone numbers, anonymous social media accounts. At the same time, this group uses many bank accounts in other people's names to receive money, causing the money flow to be divided and difficult to trace.
Two subjects Pham Thi Hao (born in 1997) and Tran Huyen Trang (born in 2001), both residing in Phu Tho, were identified as participating in this ring. The scam script often revolves around requesting payment of fees such as application fees, insurance fees, disbursement guarantee fees... Notably, the "transfer error trap" trick - requiring victims to return money due to incorrect content, and then continuing to lure them to pay more. When victims are no longer able to pay, the subjects cut off contact and erase traces.
The link to help anonymous scams
According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thin - Director of Sandmedia Group, a security expert of the Anti-Fraud Project, cases like the above are not isolated phenomena but are the result of a "anonymous ecosystem" including "junk" SIMs and "virtual" accounts.
He analyzed that scammers often do not use a fixed identity but create a series of social media accounts, phone numbers and bank accounts in other people's names. This helps them easily stage multiple scam scenarios at the same time, constantly changing identities and erasing traces as soon as there are signs of being detected.
Notably, with the support of technology, subjects can automate a part of the fraud process: From running advertisements, creating video content to mass messages, causing the scale of approaching victims to increase rapidly in a short time.
From this reality, Mr. Thin believes that it is necessary to change from the root the way digital identity is managed. First of all, platforms and network operators must apply advanced eKYC, not just stopping at taking paper photos but must combine biometrics, facial recognition and "liveness detection" technology to ensure that the registered person is real. In addition, the comparison of information in real time with the National Population Database needs to be deployed synchronously to prevent the situation of using fake papers or borrowing identity.
He also emphasized the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in early detection of abnormal signs such as creating multiple accounts from one device, bot-like behavior or accounts that do not generate real interaction.
More importantly, it is necessary to stop activating pre-activated SIMs and force accounts to be verified periodically. If not tightened from the root, fraudulent rings will always have "land to live" to recur in other forms" - Mr. Thin warned.
In addition to technical factors, he believes that it is necessary to tighten legal and economic responsibilities for SIM distribution agents and account management units, and at the same time, strengthen coordination between cross-border platforms to quickly handle violating accounts.
