Beware of fake workers selling fake antiques

(Baonghean.vn) - Recently, some people from other localities have come to pretend to have discovered antiques and resell them to people at cheap prices. However, these items on the market are only priced from a few hundred thousand to millions of dong.

» Nghe An: Pretending to be a road worker, defrauding and selling fake antiques

On August 1, while Mr. Ha Van Hung in Cong village, Cam Lam commune, Con Cuong district was sweeping the yard, two strange men asked to come in. These two men introduced themselves as workers building a nearby road and asked to come into the house to wash the newly dug objects.

When Mr. Hung came out to see, the two men said that while working, they had dug up an antique set. Seeing Mr. Hung's curiosity, the two men offered to sell it, saying that because the road was difficult to travel, it would be taboo to carry valuable items on their person, so they wanted to sell it for 10 million VND.

The fake antiques that the subjects used to trick people cost only a few hundred thousand to a million dong. Photo: Tuong Vi

To increase their persuasiveness, the two men said that a scrap dealer offered 3 taels of gold but refused to sell. While they were talking, one of their phones rang, and someone on the other end offered 20 million VND for the item, and they could pay more if it was delivered to their home. Thinking it was a genuine antique, Mr. Hung agreed to buy it.

In a similar manner, on August 7, these two men entered Diem village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong). When meeting Ms. Hien, the owner of a roadside grocery store, these two men also introduced themselves as road workers and had just dug up a rare antique, and at the same time offered to sell it because "it is inconvenient to carry rare items on your person".

However, the fraudulent behavior of these two men did not escape Ms. Hien's eyes. Ms. Hien secretly reported to the Chau Khe commune police and these two subjects were arrested later. At the police station, these two subjects declared that they were Nguyen Phi Hai (born in 1987) and Huynh Van Pho (born in 1979), both residing in Ben Cau district, Tay Ninh province.

The items that these subjects said were antiques were actually bought in Ho Chi Minh City for 1.5 million VND, then covered with mud to make them look like real antiques. With this method and trick, the subjects deceived many people to make illegal profits.

Not only in Con Cuong, the form of fraud selling fake antiques has recently appeared in many mountainous districts. On May 16, a stranger claiming to be a worker at a nearby road construction site dug up an antique and brought it to the house of Mr. Nguyen Van Le in Hamlet 5, Hanh Lam Commune (Thanh Chuong) who works as a shaman to sell.

This set includes a gourd with eight immortals and two toads holding coins, with Chinese characters at the bottom and mud all around. After examining it, Mr. Le agreed to buy it for 9 million VND. Upon receiving the news of the antiques sale, the police of Hanh Lam commune arrived at Mr. Le's house to make a record, temporarily confiscated all the evidence and brought it to the People's Committee of Hanh Lam commune.

Two subjects Nguyen Phi Hai (born in 1987) and Huynh Van Pho (born in 1979), both residing in Ben Cau district, Tay Ninh province, pretended to be workers to sell fake antiques. Photo: Tuong Vi

At this time, the person selling fake antiques had already run away. People searching online discovered many fake antiques that were exactly like the “antiques” sold at Mr. Le’s house for only a few hundred thousand dong.

Previously, a few months ago, two strange men also appeared in Thong Thu commune (Que Phong) to sell antiques. Upon hearing the information, Thong Thu Border Guard Station promptly went to the scene, requesting these two men not to sell goods of unclear origin.

Seeing that their plan was difficult to carry out, the two men changed direction and said they were selling beautiful porcelain vases and bowls for decoration. Because there was not enough evidence to confirm that the two men had cheated people by selling fake antiques at high prices, Thong Thu Border Guard Station expelled them from the area.

According to the press, this form of fraud not only appears in Nghe An but also in many other localities. The scammers who discovered the fakes and then resold them mainly have permanent residence in Ben Cau district, Tay Ninh province.

These fake antiques are mainly gourd vases with the image of 8 fairies and 2 toads holding coins or a pair of chickens or unicorns. These objects are all made of bronze and have Chinese characters on the bottom. Fraudsters often prey on people's spiritual life and their desire for strange things.

They pretended to be poor workers who had just “dug up antiques while building the road” and used sweet words to lure many victims into the trap, agreeing on a price and taking the fake goods home. When checking the quality, they realized that these antiques could easily be bought on the market for a few hundred thousand dong.

Through the above incident, the authorities recommend that people need to be extremely vigilant. If they discover people with unknown backgrounds selling unclear items, it is best not to buy them and must report them to the authorities or local government.

Nguyen Hung - Tuong Vi