Pincoin AI Forex Copy Trading Scam: Collapsed After Raising Approximately $660 Million in Vietnamese Dong

Who Gets Targeted

Victims were predominantly local middle-class individuals in Vietnam, young office workers, and relatively conservative savings-oriented families. Many were unfamiliar with the forex market yet were lured by the combination pitch of 'AI intelligent copy trading, barrier-free entry, and high upfront rebates.' They generally exhibited two psychological vulnerabilities: first, a strong anticipation for 'passive income' and 'automated tech-driven wealth,' making them willing to test the waters with small amounts before seeing real transaction data; and second, falling into confirmation bias after receiving early rebates, treating short-term withdrawable funds as proof of platform safety, which led them to invest more and introduce friends and family, ultimately creating a peer-to-peer cascading loss expansion.

骗局怎么运作

• Operating under the brand name Pincoin, the platform promoted an 'AI Forex Copy Trading System' on social media and offline gatherings, claiming that an algorithm automatically replicated professional traders' strategies. Investors were told they only needed to deposit Vietnamese Dong to share in the profits, supported by visualized profit curves and purported trading records.
• Early investors were able to withdraw smoothly with short rebate cycles and stable amounts. The purpose was to engineer a verifiable 'safe withdrawal' experience, turning onlookers from skeptical to willing to try, while encouraging existing investors to share screenshots of received funds to expand social media propagation.
• Once the scale of new capital expanded, the platform began rolling out incentive programs such as 'team rewards, multi-tier rebates, and extra deposit-topping bonuses,' requiring participants to pledge more funds or commit to lock-up periods—a classic signal of Ponzi escalation.
• Following the peak of fundraising, the core operators restricted withdrawals under pretexts such as 'AI system upgrades, Vietnamese Dong settlement channel maintenance, and partner bank audits,' while continuing to briefly disburse small rebates to delay stop-loss actions.
• Ultimately, the core team absconded with the funds, and the websites and customer service gradually shut down, leading to a wave of collective complaints and police reports in local communities. Publicly disclosed involved amounts are approximately $660 million, though some reporting details intersect with related case files such as 'Mr Pips' subsequently released by Vietnamese police; investors should monitor the final official indictments.

红旗信号（看到这些快跑）

• 🚩 Promising stable or fixed-cycle rebates via 'AI automated copy trading' without being able to provide a regulated forex broker license or verifiable trading history.
• 🚩 Deposits primarily made in Vietnamese Dong while the promotional target is US dollars, resulting in opaque capital routes and a lack of third-party custody or bank escrow explanations.
• 🚩 Smooth early withdrawals accompanied by customer service repeatedly encouraging reinvestment, tier upgrading, and recruiting downlines, claiming that 'the more you lock up, the higher your returns.'
• 🚩 Platform official websites and promotional materials repeatedly emphasizing 'zero risk, guaranteed profit, effortless earning' without clearly disclosing maximum drawdowns or potential losses.
• 🚩 When community withdrawal delays occur, operators respond with vague excuses such as system upgrades or bank settlement maintenance, even using isolated successful withdrawal cases to suppress skepticism.

真实案例

• Vietnamese media publicly reported that representatives of Pincoin investors stated the project faced payment defaults after raising approximately $660 million, with affected families spanning Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and other regions, and multiple individuals posting their fraud experiences on social media.
• The 'Mr Pips' cyber financial scam, which entered Vietnamese public discourse around the same period as Pincoin, led Vietnamese police to prosecute 188 individuals, with publicly reported involved amounts of approximately 156 billion VND, exposing a Ponzi ecosystem disguised by high-yield forex and cryptocurrencies.
• Public reports from Vietnamese Chinese-language communities indicated that the Shark Bình case involved money laundering charges linked to the TikToker Mr Pips scam amounting to approximately 320 billion VND, demonstrating that celebrity endorsements and money laundering channels are frequently embedded in the same Ponzi network.
• In April 2018, Sina Finance cited foreign media reports stating that Vietnamese cryptocurrency company Modern Tech launched an ICO for the Pincoin token, raising $660 million from about 32,000 people before the team vanished overnight; the project had promised 48% monthly profits and encouraged introducing new members to the network with an 8% commission. (Source: [https://finance.sina.cn/chanjing/gdxw/2018-04-15/detail-ifzcyxmu8124528.d.html](https://finance.sina.cn/chanjing/gdxw/2018-04-15/detail-ifzcyxmu8124528.d.html))
• In August 2026, the Vietnamese Chinese-language press reported on a nearly 300-page indictment issued by the Hanoi People's Procuracy: the primary suspect nicknamed 'Mr Pips' connived with others to establish 81 shell companies and operate 36 fake forex trading websites, carrying out 919 scams from 2019 to September 2024 and embezzling nearly 160 billion VND in total. (Source: [https://yuenan.com/news-123448/](https://yuenan.com/news-123448/))

Official Stance

• The Ministry of Public Security and the Supreme People's Procuracy of Vietnam prosecuted 188 individuals in the 'Mr Pips' case, publicly warning against financial scams carried out under the guise of forex and cryptocurrency investments.
• Vietnamese official media VietnamPlus reported around 2023 on the 'Mr Pips' mega cyber financial fraud case, with publicly reported amounts around 156 billion VND, emphasizing the criminal risks associated with capital schemes and money laundering chains.
• The Vietnamese Chinese-language Saigon Giai Phong reported the dismantling of a multi-level marketing virtual currency investment fraud syndicate involving hundreds of billions of dong, reminding the public to stay alert against high-yield multi-tier rebate models.

How to Protect Yourself

• ✅ Verify whether the platform holds forex, securities, or payment business licenses issued by the State Securities Commission of Vietnam or banking regulatory authorities, rather than judging solely by website screenshots or social media endorsements.
• ✅ Reject any forex copy trading projects promising 'zero risk, fixed rebates, and guaranteed automated AI profits,' especially models requiring additional deposits to withdraw or unlock earnings.
• ✅ Maintain vigilance against early withdrawability, as it is a method used by Ponzi schemes to manufacture trust; do not increase principal or introduce friends and family on that basis.
• ✅ Upon discovering withdrawal delays, unresponsive customer service, or platform name changes, immediately cease deposits and preserve transfer records, chat histories, and promotional screenshots to report to Vietnamese police or anti-fraud platforms.