Scamstats
Get updates

Vietnam

Population 101.6 million · Latest figures: 2025

Download Country Report PDF

Vietnam's Ministry of Public Security recorded 4,200 online fraud cases in 2025, with losses estimated at more than VND 8,000 billion, against more than 6,000 cases and more than VND 12,000 billion in 2024. Between 2020 and 2025 there were 24,295 cases and losses of nearly VND 40,000 billion.

Since 1 March 2025 the ministry has led on network security as well as policing: its cyber security department, A05, took over the information security work of the former communications ministry. The State Bank of Vietnam regulates the banks and runs a shared database of suspect accounts. The Ministry of Science and Technology regulates the phone companies. The Prime Minister chairs the national cyber security steering committee.

The measures are built on identity: a face scan checked against the national ID for larger bank transfers (July 2024) and for every account used online (January 2025), and confirmation of every mobile number in the VNeID identity app (2026). A personal data law took effect on 1 January 2026 and a new cybersecurity law on 1 July 2026.

People scammed
9,739,333
13.2% of adults

The script the police rank first is a caller posing as the authorities, and the ministry reminds people that the police, courts and prosecutors do not work by phone. Scripts follow the news: scammers posed as regulators, phone company staff and bank staff during the clean-up of SIM cards and bank accounts itself. Victims are told to install a fake public service or identity app, or sent an 'electricity' or 'tax' link, which gives the scammer control of the phone and its banking apps. Other forms are fake prizes, investment and crypto platforms that allow small withdrawals at first, 'easy work, high pay' tasks, and fake payment receipts.

The police list 25 scripts for 2026, including cloned voices and deepfake video. In 'online kidnapping', callers posing as police isolate a student in a hotel and extort the family: about 50 victims were rescued between mid-2024 and August 2025, all aged 18 to 22 and nine in ten of them women.

Much of this is directed from abroad. In January 2026, 205 Vietnamese were arrested at Chinese-run scam companies in Bavet, Cambodia.

People who lost money
5,607,499
58% of victims

Money leaves by bank transfer into accounts rented or bought from their owners, and the State Bank says a transfer can pass through several accounts in about a minute. 'Blank' accounts are advertised for a few hundred thousand to over a million dong.

Vietnam's answer is to tie every account to a verified person. Since 1 July 2024 a transfer of more than VND 10 million needs a face scan. Since 1 January 2025 an account or card that has not been matched to its owner's biometric data cannot be used online at all. By October 2026, 175.2 million customer records had been matched, and of about 200 million accounts that existed, 113 million individual accounts were valid after the checks.

Banks also check the recipient. The State Bank's SIMO database held more than 688,000 suspect accounts by March 2026, and by September 2026 customers warned by it had abandoned 1.9 million transfers worth more than VND 6,300 billion. By March 2027 banks must offer customers a 24-hour delay on large transfers to a new recipient. On the phone side, every number has to be confirmed in the VNeID app: about 13 million unconfirmed numbers had been stopped by September 2026.

Money lost
US$537.1m
₫13.41tn in a year, 0.10% of GDP

Police put losses to online scams at more than VND 8,000 billion in 2025, against more than VND 12,000 billion in about 6,000 cases in 2024. Over 2020 to 2025 the police counted 24,295 cases and nearly VND 40,000 billion lost. The police department for high-tech crime says the 2025 figure may be only a small part of the real total, because many victims do not report: in a December 2025 survey by the National Cybersecurity Association, only 32.12% of victims had reported to the authorities. The same survey found the share of internet users hit had fallen, the first fall in years.

Scammers posing as the police and other authorities are the leading script, followed by job scams, fake prizes and high-return investment. Large cases show the scale: the Mr Pips indictment covers more than VND 1,568 billion taken in over 920 frauds through 36 fake trading websites. In January 2026, 205 Vietnamese were arrested at scam companies in Bavet, Cambodia, that had taken hundreds of billions of dong from thousands of victims.

Money returned
US$10.8m
2.0% of the money lost

No rule in Vietnam makes a bank refund a customer who was tricked into paying, so little of the money lost to scams comes back. What does return is recovered from the scammers through the police and the courts. The police aim is to trace and freeze the money before it leaves the country.

Freezing is still limited. Money can pass through several accounts in about a minute, and between June and early October 2026 a little over 400 accounts showing signs of fraud were frozen. In August 2026 the national cybersecurity steering committee ordered the State Bank and the Ministry of Public Security to build a mechanism for blocking accounts and e-wallets linked to fraud at once, so that money can be recovered for victims, due in the last quarter of 2026. A decree in force since 19 August 2026 lists eight cases in which an account or e-wallet can be suspended, among them receiving the proceeds of a violation and being rented or borrowed.

In the largest case, the Mr Pips investment fraud, Hanoi police seized assets and asked the victims identified to come forward so that their money could be returned once the court rules. The trial was set to open in Hanoi on 26 October 2026.

Reported
65%
of victims reported it

In the Armidale 2026 survey, 39.4% of victims of the last 12 months told the police and 65.2% reported to some institution, such as the police, a bank or a platform. In the National Cyber Security Association's survey of internet users in December 2025, 32.12% of scam victims reported to the authorities, down from 45.69% a year earlier, and 12.03% accepted the loss and did nothing. Police reports are made to the police where the scam happened, or through the crime-reporting function of the VNeID identity app, which sends them straight to the commune or ward police.

The Ministry of Public Security detected more than 6,000 online fraud cases in 2024, and the Criminal Police Department says fraud was cut by more than 20% in 2025. Scam calls and texts are reported to telecoms short codes: in the first week of 2025 the information security authority logged 6,685 scam reports, 6,472 through those codes and 213 through its warning portal, down from 7,083 in the last week of 2024.

Banks and payment firms report suspect accounts to the State Bank's SIMO database, which held over 688,000 records from 149 institutions by March 2026. By September 2026 bank customers had been warned from it more than 5.6 million times and had stopped or cancelled a payment more than 1.9 million times, worth over 6,300 billion dong. In August 2026 the Prime Minister told the State Bank to set up a mechanism with the police to block accounts linked to scams at once, by the end of 2026.

Police records
4,200
cases recorded by the authorities

The Ministry of Public Security counts online fraud cases recorded when crime reports are handled: 4,200 in 2025. It has given other figures on other bases, such as nearly 1,500 cases detected in the first months of 2025, so its counts do not form a single series. In the third quarter of 2025 fraud was more than half of all crime, and online offenders were 59% of fraud.

Fraud is punished under Article 174 of the Penal Code, with 12 to 20 years or life in prison where VND 500 million or more is taken. Renting, lending or selling a bank account draws a fine of VND 100 to 200 million under a decree of December 2025, and trading bank account information up to seven years in prison.

Large networks have been broken up: one, dismantled in 2025, had more than 10,000 victims in about 100 days and led to nearly 200 arrests. Cambodia handed over 161 Vietnamese linked to online fraud in July 2025.

Victims who told the police (estimated)
3,836,703
Cases recorded by the authorities
4,200
Most common
  1. Online shopping
  2. Jobs
  3. Government impersonation

The Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security groups online fraud into nine kinds and ranks impersonation of the authorities first and job scams second. The ministry's own summary names four main groups: impersonation, romance, investment and malware.

In the largest investment case, Mr Pips, more than 920 frauds were run through fake trading websites. Fake apps are a growing route: scripts tell the victim to install an app that looks like a public service, which then takes over the phone.

Government response

Vietnam's programme runs through the state's control of identity. Banks must match every customer to their biometric data and the national ID, phone companies must have every number confirmed in the state identity app, and from 2027 everyone trading online is to be identified. The State Bank's SIMO database makes banks and payment firms pool the accounts they suspect: 149 institutions were connected by March 2026.

On the banks' side the results can be measured. The State Bank reports that the number of customers defrauded fell 59% in the third quarter of 2025 against a year earlier, and the losses recorded by the Ministry of Public Security fell from more than VND 12,000 billion in 2024 to more than 8,000 billion in 2025.

The weaknesses are named by officials themselves. The deputy head of A05 said in May 2026 that prevention is fragmented, that suspect accounts, malicious links and fake apps stay up too long, and that help arrives after the money is lost. In June 2026 the minister described coordination between the police and the State Bank as only at a first stage, and the instant blocking of accounts is promised for late 2026. National Assembly deputies say cross-border platforms do not fully meet their legal duties in Vietnam.

The 2025 cybersecurity law gives platforms 24 hours to remove content. No rule makes a bank, phone company or platform bear a victim's loss.

Get updates on Vietnam

An email when we update these figures. Add more countries, or follow them all.

Calculation Methodology & Sources

People scammed

From one survey:

  • 13.2%: Armidale, ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 for the GSMA (figures computed from the respondent data), Respondent data, Q25 (12 months to 30 July 2026).
  • 13.2% of 73,782,826 adults.

People who lost money

From one survey:

  • 57.6%: Armidale, ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 for the GSMA (figures computed from the respondent data), Respondent data, Q32 (12 months to 30 July 2026).

Money lost

  • ₫8tn was lost in cases recorded by the authorities. Adding the 5,603,299 victims who lost money but are not in those records, at ₫965,108 each, gives ₫13.41tn.
  • Price of an unrecorded loss: Read off the line fitted to GDP per person in the countries where this price is measured (Canada, Chile, Mexico, Singapore and United States): US$38.66 = VND 965,107.54.
  • US dollars at 0.000040062 per VND.
  • Share of GDP: US$537.1m against GDP of US$514.7b in 2025. World Bank, GDP (current US$) 2025.

Money returned

  • Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Payment Systems Report 2025, Level average, see note.
  • No national figure covers every route, so the average is used for countries where the no rule makes banks refund fraud losses. Worked out: banks return 2.5% of money lost through banks, the average of Nigeria and Bangladesh; banks returned VND 146.54bn (2.5% of the 42.9% of money lost through banks); VND 122.42bn came back on money lost outside banks (1.6%, from Armidale's non-government survey of seven Asian markets, converted to money).
  • 2.0% of ₫13.41tn lost.

Reported

From one survey:

  • 65.2%: Armidale, ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 for the GSMA (figures computed from the respondent data), Respondent data, Q33 (12 months to 30 July 2026).

Police records

  • 39.4%: Armidale, ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 for the GSMA (figures computed from the respondent data), Respondent data, Q33 (12 months to 30 July 2026).
  • 4,200: Online fraud cases recorded by the Ministry of Public Security.

Most common

  • Ranked by scam types that affected victims of the last 12 months most (Armidale 2026; victims could choose more than one). 36.2% of answers are methods such as phishing, or other, and are not ranked.

Sources

  • Armidale, ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2026 for the GSMA (figures computed from the respondent data) (4 September 2026). Survey. Online survey of adults aged 18 and over in each country (Milieu Insight panel). Original
  • Báo Đầu tư, Số vụ lừa đảo giảm 52% nhờ xác thực sinh trắc học, phong tỏa hơn 400 tài khoản nghi ngờ vi phạm (6 October 2026). News report. Reports police and State Bank statements. Original
  • VietNamNet (Báo Mới), Hơn 400 tài khoản bị phong tỏa, ngân hàng thêm 'phanh' 24 giờ chống lừa đảo (6 October 2026). News report. Reports State Bank statements. Original
  • Báo Pháp luật Việt Nam, Lá chắn mềm bảo vệ giới trẻ trước tội phạm mạng - Bài 2: Những con số kêu cứu (16 October 2025). News report. Reports police figures on online kidnapping. Original
  • Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Payment Systems Report 2025 (1 May 2026). Official source. Payment Systems Supervision Department. Title page: May 2026. Counts fraud cases in mobile financial services, cards and cheques for January to December 2025, and the amount lost in those cases. The day is the first of the printed month. Original · Archived copy
  • Government News (baochinhphu.vn), Tội phạm mạng gây thiệt hại gần 40.000 tỷ đồng giai đoạn 2020-2025 (29 December 2025). News report. Reports police figures given at a national conference. Original
  • Đại biểu Nhân dân, Tuần đầu năm 2025, có 6.685 phản ánh lừa đảo trực tuyến (14 January 2025). News report. Reports the information security authority's figures. Original
  • Đại biểu Nhân dân, Phó Cục trưởng A05 (Bộ Công an): Bảo vệ người dùng là bảo vệ 'dòng máu' của kinh tế số (14 May 2026). News report. Reports statements by the deputy head of the ministry's cyber security department. Original
  • Đại biểu Nhân dân, Nguy cơ tiềm ẩn từ việc mua bán, cho thuê tài khoản ngân hàng (9 April 2026). News report. Reports the rules on renting and selling bank accounts. Original
  • Báo Lào Cai, Hơn 115 triệu SIM được rà soát, 13 triệu số bị dừng dịch vụ do chưa xác nhận chính chủ (4 September 2026). News report. Reports the results of the SIM verification. Original
  • Luật sư Việt Nam, Quy định xác thực thông tin thuê bao qua VNeID chính thức có hiệu lực (15 April 2026). News report. Reports the circular on confirming mobile numbers. Original
  • LuatVietnam, Lừa đảo bao nhiêu tiền thì bị đi tù? (17 September 2021). Industry source. A legal summary of Article 174 of the Penal Code. Original
  • LuatVietnam, Từ 01/7/2024, chuyển khoản trên 10 triệu đồng phải xác thực sinh trắc học (27 December 2023). Industry source. A legal summary of the State Bank's decision. Original
  • LuatVietnam, 8 trường hợp tài khoản thanh toán có thể bị tạm dừng giao dịch từ 19/8/2026 (22 August 2026). Industry source. A legal summary of Decree 327/2026. Original
  • LuatVietnam, Doanh nghiệp cung cấp dịch vụ trên internet cần lưu ý gì khi Luật An ninh mạng 2025 có hiệu lực? (4 January 2026). Industry source. A legal summary of the Cybersecurity Law 2025. Original
  • Markettimes (Nhịp sống thị trường), Chỉ 1 năm, VN có 4.200 vụ lừa đảo online, Hiếu PC, chuyên gia tâm lý học tội phạm đưa ra nguyên nhân gì? (12 May 2026). News report. Counts only online fraud cases recorded by the police; scams that are not reported are not included. Original
  • Ministry of Public Security, Nâng cao cảnh giác trước 25 kịch bản lừa đảo trên không gian mạng năm 2026 (8 September 2026). Official source. The ministry's own warning. Original · Archived copy
  • Ministry of Public Security, Công an tỉnh Tuyên Quang triệt phá tận gốc đường dây lừa đảo tại Campuchia (15 January 2026). Official source. The ministry's account of a police operation. Original · Archived copy
  • Ministry of Public Security, Tăng cường hợp tác quốc tế trong phòng, chống tội phạm lừa đảo trực tuyến (25 October 2025). Official source. The ministry's own figures for 2024. Original · Archived copy
  • Ministry of Public Security, Kiến nghị về việc tăng cường phòng ngừa, đấu tranh, xử lý tội phạm lừa đảo qua mạng (25 July 2025). Official source. The ministry's reply to voters. Original · Archived copy
  • Nhân Dân, Campuchia bàn giao 161 công dân liên quan lừa đảo trực tuyến (20 July 2025). News report. Reports a handover of suspects. Original
  • Nhân Dân, Số nạn nhân của lừa đảo trên không gian mạng ngày càng gia tăng (8 October 2025). News report. Reports police figures and warnings. Original
  • Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, Lừa đảo trực tuyến ở Việt Nam gây thiệt hại khoảng 18.900 tỷ đồng (16 December 2024). News report. Reports the National Cyber Security Association's online survey of internet users in late 2024. Original · Archived copy
  • Sài Gòn Giải Phóng, Bộ Công an kêu gọi tố giác tội phạm qua ứng dụng VNeID (24 January 2024). News report. Reports the ministry's crime-reporting function. Original
  • Thanh Niên, Hơn 1,9 triệu lượt khách hàng dừng giao dịch 6.300 tỉ đồng sau cảnh báo lừa đảo (7 October 2026). News report. Reports State Bank figures. Original
  • Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ, Ngừng giao dịch trực tuyến với khách hàng chưa bổ sung thông tin sinh trắc học từ ngày 1/1/2025 (2 November 2024). News report. Reports the State Bank's rules. Original
  • Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ, Bộ Công an - Ngân hàng Nhà nước tăng cường phối hợp phòng, chống lừa đảo trực tuyến (24 June 2026). News report. Reports the plan signed by the ministry and the State Bank. Original
  • Thị trường Tài chính Tiền tệ, Những điểm chính cần lưu ý tại Luật Bảo vệ dữ liệu cá nhân chính thức có hiệu lực từ ngày 1/1/2026 (3 January 2026). News report. Reports the personal data law. Original
  • Tuổi Trẻ, Đầu năm 2025 đến nay phát hiện gần 1.500 vụ việc lừa đảo qua mạng (5 August 2025). News report. Reports police figures. Original
  • UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant) (11 July 2024). Official source. Modelled estimates built from censuses and surveys. Original · Archived copy
  • VietnamFinance, Hơn 86 triệu tài khoản ngân hàng sắp bị 'khai tử' (15 July 2025). News report. Reports State Bank figures. Original
  • VietNamNet, Thiết lập cơ chế 'chặn nóng' tài khoản ngân hàng liên quan lừa đảo, thu hồi tài sản cho người dân (7 August 2026). News report. Reports a meeting of the national cyber security steering committee. Original
  • VietNamNet, Chỉ 32,12% nạn nhân bị lừa đảo trực tuyến có báo cơ quan chức năng (7 January 2026). News report. Reports the National Cyber Security Association's online survey of internet users in December 2025. Original · Archived copy
  • VietNamNet, Triệu khách hàng suýt mất 4.000 tỷ đồng vì lừa đảo: Hệ thống ngân hàng đã kịp 'phanh gấp' (2 April 2026). News report. Reports State Bank figures. Original
  • Vietnam Banks Association, Đã ngăn chặn 1.500 tỷ đồng chảy vào tài khoản nghi lừa đảo, lượng tài khoản cá nhân bị lừa giảm 59% (4 October 2025). Industry source. The banking association's report of State Bank figures. Original
  • VnEconomy, Số vụ lừa đảo trên không gian mạng vẫn chiếm 59% trong cơ cấu tội phạm (7 October 2025). News report. Reports police figures. Original
  • VnEconomy, Chuyển nhiệm vụ bảo đảm an toàn thông tin mạng từ Bộ Thông tin và Truyền thông về Bộ Công an (28 February 2025). News report. Reports the transfer of information security work to the Ministry of Public Security. Original
  • VnExpress, 5 năm, người Việt mất gần 40.000 tỷ đồng vì lừa đảo trực tuyến (29 December 2025). News report. Reports police figures and statements at a national conference. Original
  • VOV, Đại biểu Quốc hội lo ngại tình trạng lừa đảo trực tuyến, bắt cóc online (23 October 2025). News report. Reports a National Assembly debate. Original
  • VTC News, Shark Bình và ông trùm lừa đảo Mr Pips sắp hầu toà (7 October 2026). News report. Reports an indictment. Original
  • World Bank, DEC alternative conversion factor (local currency units per US$) 2025 (8 October 2026). Official source. The rate the World Bank uses to convert a country's GDP where it publishes no official exchange rate. Original · Archived copy
  • World Bank, GDP (current US$) 2025 (8 October 2026). Official source. National accounts estimates that are revised as countries report. Original · Archived copy

scamstats.org/country/vn/ · Scamstats is an initiative of Armidale · data licensed CC BY 4.0