A group of five young men were asked to talk to police in Hanoi on Monday for producing and releasing Jalal Brothers-style prank videos in which they played terrorists, dropping fake bombs to scare people.

The police unit in charge of hi-tech criminals (PC50) said the youngsters, from 20 to 22 years old, face penalties for causing a public nuisance and spreading fear amongst the public.

PC50 began to work with the men following their latest prank video, showing one man in a white Arab robe dropping fake dynamite in front of random people on the street.

The five men, who call themselves the ‘Monster NTN’ group, have been producing prank videos since the beginning of this year and posted them on YouTube and Facebook in an effort to earn money from ads.

Last month, one member ran across a 'terrorist' bomb video by a group of foreign pranksters, and decided to replicate it.

The ‘Monster NTN’ crew filmed their own video on October 31 and November 1. The final product was a four-minute video that showed the ‘terrorist’ successfully frightening people using fake explosives.

It is thought that the young men from Hanoi may have learned from the Jalal Brothers, a three-member group infamous for a series of bomb and drive-by shooting pranks in Australia.

The trio appeared in court in Melbourne, Australia, in May this year, facing the charge of causing public nuisances.

The fake bombs

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!