VOV.VN – Yeo Sungjin, a 37-year-old South Korean national and high-ranking leader of a major transnational fraud and trafficking syndicate, has been arrested in Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. Yeo was wanted under a Korean court warrant and listed on an Interpol Red Notice, making his capture a major success for provincial authorities.
According to information in the Interpol Red Notice, Yeo served as one of the top executive directors in a large romance-scam and human-trafficking network operating from a notorious criminal compound in Bavet, Cambodia, near the Vietnamese border. He oversaw roughly 60 scammers who used deepfake technology to create fake social-media profiles of attractive women. Their targets were men across several Asian countries.
The criminal group lured victims by building online romantic relationships, then persuading them to deposit money through fake travel websites under the guise of completing “couple missions.” These platforms promised full refunds, flights, and hotel packages for future trips. Between August 2024 and February 2025 alone, the syndicate stole at least US$1 million.
The deception extended far beyond financial fraud. Many victims who agreed to travel to Vietnam to meet their supposed partners were abducted by Yeo or his associates, then smuggled into Cambodia. Once inside the Bavet criminal complexes, victims had their passports seized, were beaten, confined, and forced into additional scam operations. Those who resisted were brutally assaulted or sold to other criminal groups.
After part of the syndicate was dismantled in early 2025, Yeo fled Cambodia. South Korean authorities charged him with fraud, involvement in an organised criminal structure, and human trafficking. He was believed to have hidden in the Golden Triangle region before entering Vietnam illegally.
On December 1, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police confirmed that Yeo was arrested on November 26, 2025, inside a luxury apartment at the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu complex in Nha Trang. Despite no Red Notice information appearing in the database accessible to Vietnam at the time, immigration officials detected his illegal presence through strict foreign-national monitoring. When questioned, Yeo had no identification and displayed suspicious behaviour. Advanced investigative checks later confirmed he was the wanted fugitive.
Authorities quickly compiled case files, issued an emergency detention order, and coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Foreign Affairs to verify information with South Korean officials. Extradition or deportation procedures are now underway in accordance with Vietnamese law and relevant judicial agreements.
Police in Khanh Hoa have also opened a broader investigation into individuals, organizations, and lodging facilities suspected of helping Yeo during his time in Vietnam.
