Beware of the trick of impersonating Fire Police to defraud and appropriate property

Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team No. 4 (located in Hoang Mai Town) received a phone call from Mr. T - Director of a transportation and tourism company in Yen Thanh District to ask about opening a training class in the form of sending documents and collecting money by post.

Because before that, on October 24, 2019, Mr. T received a phone call from a caller who introduced himself as an officer of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department. He said that in the near future, he would open a training course on fire prevention and fighting for the company and suggested buying research materials in advance for the training, sending and paying by post.

Initially, because he did not suspect anything, Mr. T - Director of the Company provided information and the company's workplace address; however, after thinking again, this Director called the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Team to ask again about the incident.

A set of fake documents from the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department, Nghe An Provincial Police sent by post to a company. Photo: Duc Vu

The next day, when the post office employee sent a package outside with fire safety documents and the amount of 450,000 VND, the company director did not accept it and returned it.

In 2018, using the same trick, a number of agencies, organizations, and businesses in Vinh City, Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, etc. transferred money to the subject to buy the Fire Prevention and Fighting Law and training materials on fire prevention and fighting at prices 5 to 7 times higher.

The above acts of fraud and property appropriation have seriously affected the reputation of Nghe An Provincial Police in general and Nghe An Fire Prevention and Fighting Police in particular.

On October 28, 2019, Nghe An Provincial Police issued Notice No. 3758/CAT-PV07-PC01 to the Police of units and localities about the situation of subjects impersonating Nghe An Provincial Fire Prevention and Fighting Police calling owners of establishments under fire prevention and fighting management, especially establishments selling gasoline, oil, gas, accommodation businesses, agencies, schools, pharmacies... to raise issues related to fire prevention and fighting work in order to defraud and appropriate money from the owners of the above establishments.

The modus operandi of the subjects is to accept the entire package of documents for approval and acceptance of fire prevention and fighting; request agencies, organizations and enterprises to buy the Fire Prevention and Fighting Law, documents for training in fire prevention and fighting at prices many times higher... The subjects do not meet directly but only conduct transactions via phone and postal services.

The leader of the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department - Nghe An Provincial Police affirmed: The unit does not invite or call to inform about opening Fire Prevention and Rescue classes over the phone; especially, does not receive money by pre-transfer or collect money by post to distribute documents. Therefore, units, businesses and people need to be vigilant and alert to avoid being deceived.

In the announcement, the Provincial Police directed the Criminal Police Department and the Police of districts, cities and towns to strengthen the work of grasping the situation, promptly detect subjects who take advantage of the provisions of the law on fire prevention and fighting or impersonate the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police to defraud and appropriate property to prepare cases, arrest and strictly handle them according to the provisions of the law.