The arrests took place between late June and last week in southern HCM City, Voice of Vietnam said, citing the Ministry of Public Security.

It said the suspects included 76 Taiwanese and 23 Chinese.

Police seized telecommunications equipment, computers and telephones, the report added.

Major general To Lam told the radio network that the criminals often took over entire hotels of 30 to 40 rooms for their operations.

The suspects allegedly made random phone calls posing as telecom officials, police officers and prosecutors, urging people to wire money to specified accounts.

"They asked the hotel owners to sign contracts for the use of international phones and Internet, with Vietnamese operators. They used the name of Vietnamese to operate but the Vietnamese had no direct involvement in their operations," the general said.

Some of the foreign victims reported they had lost millions of dollars, Voice of Vietnam said.

Police in Taiwan on July 1 announced the arrest in Vietnam of 32 people from the island and 14 mainland Chinese for suspected involvement in telephone scams.

Taiwanese fraud rings have recently relocated to Vietnam after the island's police joined forces with Chinese and Thai authorities to bust their operations, Taiwan's Criminal Investigation Bureau said.

The scams mostly targeted Taiwanese and Chinese nationals.

Agence France Presse - July 9, 2010