Police bust Chinese-led extortion ring in Cambodia targeting Vietnamese victims with sensitive images

Led by a Chinese national based in Cambodia, the sophisticated and highly organized operation targeted officials, civil servants, businesspeople, and other socially prominent individuals, as reported by provincial police on Tuesday.

The ring created fake Zalo and Facebook accounts featuring young and attractive women to make friends with potential victims.

They also purchased personal data or uncovered the victims’ information online.

After gaining trust and establishing emotional connections, the operators persuaded the victims to share sensitive photos and videos.

These materials were then edited and manipulated to intimidate and coerce the victims into transferring money by threatening to release the content on social media.

The ring was headquartered in a building in the Kim Sa 3 quarter of Bavet City, Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia, where more than 100 individuals worked.

Vietnamese and Cambodian law enforcement recently raided the site.

So far, 25 suspects, including several women, have been detained and prosecuted for extortion, while an additional individual faces charges for arranging for others to illegally flee abroad.

The criminal network operated through clearly defined units, including an 'information gathering' team responsible for seeking out and contacting potential targets online.

Based on these initial contacts, a 'relationship building' team focused on establishing rapport with the victims and collecting their personal information, including sensitive content.

Once sensitive videos and images were obtained, this team would pass them to a 'content creation' unit for editing and manipulation to create materials intended to exert pressure on the individuals involved.

An 'extortion' team would then send these materials, accompanied by threats, to the victims, coercing them into making financial transfers.

Finally, a 'money laundering' team received the transferred funds and legitimized them by buying and selling cryptocurrency, primarily USDT.

The racket also set up a network of Vietnamese bank accounts to receive the extorted funds.

At the time the ring was dismantled, eleven of its accounts had collected approximately VND300 billion ($11.5 million).

There were numerous cases in which each victim was blackmailed for billions of Vietnamese dong. (VND1 billion = $38,250)

The provincial police, in coordination with Cambodian authorities, are expanding their investigation.