Warning about cases of impersonation of officials for fraudulent purposes.

Sophisticated tactics

According to authorities, fraudsters often impersonate officials from state administrative agencies to deceive and extort money using various methods and tactics. In some cases, the amount of money defrauded reaches tens of billions of VND.

Authorities are working with Le Thanh Hai, the ringleader of a scam ring that impersonated officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to defraud people of their money. (Photo: Hong Ngoc)

For example, on June 14, 2022, the Nghe An Provincial Police cracked a case involving "Fraudulent appropriation of property and use of forged documents of organizations," arresting three individuals involved in a ring that impersonated officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to defraud 25 victims across the province of over 15 billion VND. This group was led by Le Thanh Hai (with 5 previous convictions), residing in Truong Thi Ward, Vinh City. Hai's key accomplices in this ring were two individuals also residing in Vinh City: Le Kien Trung (born in 1979), residing in Le Loi Ward, and Tran Dien Thuong (born in 1976), residing in Hung Dung Ward, both with two previous convictions for "Illegal trafficking of narcotics" and "Human trafficking."

To run his operation, Le Thanh Hai directed and assigned Trung the task of approaching people with land-related needs. Trung would introduce himself as someone working at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, claiming to have many connections and the ability to successfully bid on planned land plots; he could also legalize the merging and splitting of land use right certificates and the conversion of land use purposes. Once the people trusted him, Trung would directly receive money and related documents from the victims and give them to Hai. Hai would then assign Thuong to contact people to create fake land use right certificates and give them to the victims.

From left to right, the group of three suspects: Le Thanh Hai, Le Kien Trung, and Tran Dien Thuong. Photo courtesy of Hong Ngoc.

More cunningly, although registered as permanent residents in Vinh City, to evade detection by authorities, Hai instructed the members of the ring to temporarily move to southern provinces (Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Da Nang). Only after locating and contacting their "victims" did Trung and Thuong return to Nghe An to cooperate with Hai in continuing the fraud and embezzlement. After a period of surveillance, on June 8, 2022, three task forces under the direct command of the provincial police leadership simultaneously arrested the three suspects. The seized evidence included one car; five mobile phones; ten fake land use right certificates; one fake car registration certificate and many related documents. Authorities also froze three bank accounts.

Nguyen Thi Van Anh impersonated a journalist to commit fraud and embezzle property. (Photo: Hong Ngoc)

Previously, in April 2022, the Dien Chau District Police discovered an individual in the area who claimed to be a journalist and possessed a press card, and had connections with many leading officials at the central and provincial levels in Nghe An province.

The suspect claimed to be able to convert land use certificates from agricultural land to residential land for permanent use, and several people had already transferred money to her. Given this situation, the Dien Chau District Police established a special task force to combat this. At 9:00 AM on April 27, 2022, in Dien Hanh commune, the Dien Chau District Police successfully cracked the case. They arrested Nguyen Thi Van Anh (born in 1976), residing in the commune, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property"; seizing 53 land use certificates and 2 mobile phones. Initial investigations revealed that from the beginning of 2021 to April 2022, Van Anh impersonated a reporter from the Thanh Tra Newspaper, claiming to have connections with many high-ranking officials at the central and provincial levels in Nghe An province, and offered to handle the illegal conversion of agricultural land to residential land for permanent use for 5 victims residing in Dien Chau district and other localities. In this case, the victims transferred over 9 billion VND to the suspect. Notably, the victims' use of forged land ownership certificates to illegally build on agricultural land and to deceive local authorities using these fake certificates, created by Nguyen Thi Van Anh, has caused many complex consequences.

The Dien Chau District Police Investigation Agency has initiated legal proceedings against Van Anh for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and is continuing to expand the investigation into the case.

In particular, there have been cases where individuals from other provinces have impersonated state officials in Nghe An province to commit fraud. For example, on December 16, 2021, the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department of the Ha Tinh Provincial Police, in coordination with the Loc Ha District Police, arrested Le Van Phong (born in 1989), residing in An Loc village, Thach Chau commune, Loc Ha district (Ha Tinh province), for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

The suspect Le Van Phong (center). Photo: Public Security Newspaper

At the police station, Phong confessed that he used disposable SIM cards to create social media accounts impersonating officials from departments and agencies in Nghe An province. He then proactively contacted several directors of construction companies in Ha Tinh province, promising to facilitate their businesses in winning bids in Nghe An province, with the intention of defrauding them. Using this method, Phong defrauded Mr. Phan Huy Thiet (born in 1976), the director of a company in Ha Tinh, of over 56 million VND.

In Nghe An province, after more than a year of implementing Directive No. 21/CT-TTg on strengthening the prevention and handling of fraud and property appropriation, functional forces have detected and arrested 92 cases involving 122 perpetrators of "Fraud and property appropriation," recovering assets worth over 19.5 billion VND and returning them to the victims. Among these, 32 major cases were solved, contributing to the overall effort.herto ensure good security and order in the area.

Increase vigilance.

Given the current situationimpersonating an officialAuthorities have repeatedly warned the public to be vigilant against fraud perpetrated in various forms within state agencies. According to the Ministry of Public Security, in addition to traditional scams such as impersonating state officials or high-ranking leaders to deceive people about job applications, promotions, legal cases, projects, land title registration, and loans from foreign organizations and individuals; and soliciting investments and sponsorships in companies, projects, and programs... with the aim of defrauding and misappropriating assets.

The perpetrators also use services that spoof phone numbers and impersonate officials from law enforcement agencies to call people, putting pressure on them and causing panic, then demanding that they transfer money to accounts provided by the perpetrators to steal it. The perpetrators use various scenarios such as: impersonating postal workers calling to inform people about receiving packages; telecommunications workers calling to inform people of outstanding bills; electricity company employees calling to inform people of outstanding bills and threatening to cut off electricity; traffic police calling to inform people of traffic violations or hit-and-run accidents… contacting victims to extract personal information.

To prevent fraud and property theft, authorities advise citizens to enhance their knowledge of laws and policies, regularly monitor announcements about criminal methods and tactics from authorities through mass media, and carefully research and verify financial transactions before making them, being wary of investments promising "high returns."

Evidence seized by the police in the case of impersonating officials from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to commit fraud. (Photo: Hong Ngoc)

Be vigilant when receiving calls from landline numbers claiming to be from government officials. Do not provide personal information, phone numbers, or home addresses to anyone without knowing their identity and background. In particular, do not listen to anyone who asks you to transfer money to accounts they designate.

Regarding Nghe An province, to further strengthen the prevention and handling of fraud and property appropriation activities, on November 10, 2021, the People's Committee of Nghe An province issued Document 8963-UBND-NC, which requires: Enhancing the responsibility of heads of Party committees, government agencies, the Fatherland Front, and mass organizations at all levels in the prevention, fight against, and handling of fraud and property appropriation activities; strengthening inspection and supervision to promptly detect, correct, and handle violations of the law related to fraud and property appropriation; and promoting propaganda and prevention of fraud and property appropriation crimes…