The arrest marks a significant achievement for the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police and delivers a major blow to an organised criminal network operating across Southeast Asia.

According to the Interpol Red Notice requested by the Republic of Korea, Yeo was one of the key executive directors within a large-scale romance-scam and human-trafficking syndicate based in the notorious criminal compound in Bavet, Cambodia, near the Vietnamese border.

He directly managed a group of about 60 fraudsters who used deepfake technology to create fake profiles of attractive women on social media, targeting men across multiple Asian countries.

The scam ring used a familiar tactic of building romantic relationships and persuading victims to deposit money to complete couple missions on fake travel websites, promising 100% refunds along with free flights and hotel packages to travel together. From August 2024 to February 2025 alone, the syndicate defrauded victims of at least US$1 million.

Defrauding money was only the first step. Many victims, after being coaxed into coming to Vietnam to meet their purported partner, were allegedly taken by Yeo or his accomplices and smuggled across the border into Cambodia.

Inside the Bavet criminal complexes, passports were confiscated, victims were confined, beaten, and forced to participate in further scams. Those who resisted were brutally assaulted or “sold” to other criminal rings.

After part of the syndicate was dismantled in early 2025, Yeo fled Cambodia. RoK authorities charged him with three serious offenses, namely fraud, participation in an organised criminal structure, and human trafficking. He was believed to have hidden for months in the Golden Triangle region before illegally entering Vietnam.

On December 1, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police confirmed that they arrested Yeo on November 26, 2025, at a luxury apartment in the Muong Thanh Vien Trieu complex in Nha Trang. Notably, at the time of the arrest, Yeo’s Red Notice information had not yet appeared in the international wanted-database accessible to Vietnam. However, the province’s Immigration Management Division detected his illegal residency through strict monitoring of foreign nationals. When officers checked the residence, Yeo failed to produce any identification documents and showed multiple signs of suspicion. Through advanced investigative techniques and cross-checking with intelligence sources, authorities confirmed he was the internationally wanted fugitive.

Following the arrest, the Khanh Hoa Provincial Police promptly compiled the case file, executed an emergency detention order, and coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Foreign Affairs to verify information with RoK authorities. Extradition procedures or deportation measures, per Vietnamese law and relevant judicial agreements are now being prepared.

In addition, police in Khanh Hoa have launched an expanded investigation into individuals, organisations, and accommodation facilities suspected of facilitating or harbouring Yeo during his time on Vietnamese territory.

Eight Vietnamese arrested in Cambodia for suspected online fraud

VOV.VN - Cambodian authorities have arrested eight Vietnamese nationals, including three women, during a raid on a site allegedly involved in online fraud in Chbar Ampov District, Phnom Penh.