Authority Impersonation and Digital Victimization in a Transnational Cyber Fraud Network: Evidence from Vietnam

This article examines authority impersonation as a structured mechanism of digital victimization through an in-depth qualitative case study of a Vietnamese transnational cyber fraud network. Drawing on a pseudonymized criminal judgment concerning the PVP network, the study reconstructs how offenders recruited Vietnamese workers, operated from Cambodia-based scam facilities, and targeted victims in Vietnam through a hierarchical D1-D2-D3 division of labour. The findings show that victimization was produced through a staged process of legitimation, criminal suspicion, simulated legal authority, and compliance-based extraction. Victims were not primarily deceived by technical hacking or promises of financial gain; rather, they were induced to comply through trust in state institutions, fear of criminal liability, secrecy instructions, and digitally mediated banking procedures. The case demonstrates how social engineering, organised cybercrime, and institutional impersonation converge to generate substantial financial and psychological harm. The article contributes to cybercrime and victimization scholarship by showing that authority-based fraud operates as a socio-technical process in which simulated legality transforms victim compliance into financial extraction. It also highlights the need for digital literacy programs that move beyond generic scam awareness toward procedural literacy, authority verification, and victim-centred support.