Ho Chi Minh City police opened a case against five people who used job vacancies to recruit applicants into an illegal network marketing operation and sell them dietary supplements.
On November 5, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Office said it had opened a case against Do Van Hieu and four associates for allegedly violating rules on network marketing. Investigators said the suspects used recruitment advertisements to approach people and draw them into an illegal network.
Applicants were persuaded to buy supplement packages
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Office, the case concerns HD Pro Household Business at 45/2 Nguyen Huu Canh Street in Rach Dua Ward, Ho Chi Minh City. The business was led by 33-year-old Do Van Hieu, who is from Dong Nai Province.
Police determined that the group operated from February 2025 to May 2026 and approached people through job advertisements on social media and in person.
The group posted recruitment information on Facebook and distributed flyers and business cards in crowded areas. They targeted people looking for work, including school and university students and freelance workers.
When applicants arrived at the HD Pro office, the suspects did not arrange the jobs described in the advertisements. Instead, they persuaded the applicants to buy dietary supplement packages and join as sales collaborators.
The applicants were then placed in a multilevel marketing network in which people who joined later generated commissions and other benefits for earlier participants. The operation was conducted without a certificate of registration for network marketing issued by a competent state authority.
The Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Office decided to prosecute the case for violating rules on network marketing and charged Do Van Hieu and four associates in connection with the alleged conduct.
Police said the case shows how people’s need for work was used to draw them into disguised illegal network marketing schemes. Rather than openly presenting the business as network marketing, the suspects first used job information to make contact and then asked participants to buy products and pay money to receive benefits.
The Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Office warned residents to be cautious about job offers that promise easy work but require a deposit, the purchase of a dietary supplement package or an entry fee. It advised people to check an organization’s legal status on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s information portal before joining any sales network.
Residents should immediately report businesses showing signs of disguised network marketing to the nearest police station.
Sources: Thanh Niên
