Authorities arrest suspect who impersonated police officer to defraud and steal property.

The Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police received a report from three victims, all university students in Vinh City. According to the report: On the afternoon of June 11, 2025, while the three students were in their rented room, a man approximately 40 years old, riding a motorcycle with the license plate removed and wearing a black sun jacket, arrived at the room and identified himself as a police officer. The suspect stated he was investigating a case and demanded that the three students hand over a laptop and two mobile phones to assist in the investigation.

After stealing the property, the suspect quickly fled the scene.

Immediately after receiving the information, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police, in coordination with the Provincial Police Command Center, Ben Thuy Ward Police, Hung Dong Commune Police, Vinh City; and the police of Hung Chinh, Hung Tay communes, and Hung Nguyen town, Hung Nguyen district, conducted a search, investigation, and arrest of the suspect.

To evade law enforcement, during his escape after committing crimes, the suspect frequently changed his clothes and vehicles, covered his face, and moved erratically along the streets of Vinh City.

Applying coordinated investigative measures, on June 16, 2025, the task force of the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police arrested Vu Anh Tuan (born in 1985), residing in Dang Son commune, Do Luong district.

Tuan is the person who impersonated a police officer to defraud and steal property from the three students mentioned above. Notably, Vu Anh Tuan has five previous convictions for various crimes, including three convictions for fraud and theft while impersonating a police officer.

Items seized included: one motorcycle with license plates removed, one laptop, two mobile phones, and other related items.

At the investigative agency, Vu Anh Tuan confessed that because he needed money for personal expenses, he devised a plan and went to student dormitories near universities, impersonating a police officer. He instructed the victims to sit separately in different rooms, demanding their cooperation and handing over their belongings, which he then stole.

Currently, the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police has temporarily detained Vu Anh Tuan on charges of fraud and appropriation of property to facilitate the investigation, and is also seizing the evidence of the aforementioned case to return to the victim.

The police advise citizens to remain vigilant and not panic or fear this type of scam. When dealing with administrative procedures or criminal cases, the police will send an invitation or notification to the citizen, or assign a local police officer or commune police officer to directly invite the citizen to the police station for questioning.

If a similar situation occurs, people should remain calm, refrain from providing personal information, transferring money, handing over assets, or complying with the perpetrators' requests, and immediately report it to the nearest police station for assistance and advice. If the perpetrators have already stolen property, they should immediately report the incident to the police so that it can be handled according to the law.