Couple staged phone ransom scam

(Baonghean.vn) - Ninh and her husband staged a scene where they lost their phone and offered to pay a high price to get it back. When the victim fell into the trap and gave the money, the couple ran away.

On the afternoon of May 19, Nghi Loc District Police said that the unit was temporarily detaining Nguyen Thi Ninh (born 1980), residing in Zone 1, Vong Son Village, Trieu De Commune, Lap Thach District, Vinh Phuc Province, to investigate and clarify the act of fraud.

Previously, at 8:00 a.m. on May 13, Ms. Dau Thi Loi (born in 1990), residing in Hamlet 9, Nghi Dong Commune, Nghi Loc District, a worker at BSE Electronics Assembly Company, had just withdrawn money from the ATM in front of the company gate when a woman approached.

Subject Nguyen Thi Ninh at the police station. Photo: Nhat Tuan

This woman showed Ms. Loi a brand new gold Iphone 7 model phone. This woman told Ms. Loi that she had just found the phone and did not know how to use it, and asked Ms. Loi to check the missed calls so that she could return it to the owner.

At that moment, the phone announced that the number 0925192092 was calling. Ms. Loi picked up the phone and answered it, and on the other end was a man's voice saying that he had just lost his phone, that there was a lot of important data in it and that he wanted to redeem it.

After turning off the phone for a while, the man continued to call to ask where the person who found it was so that he could come and redeem it. Ms. Loi replied that she was in front of the BSE factory gate. The man said that he was turning around in Cau Giat town (Quynh Luu) and was on his way to redeem the phone.

Through Ms. Loi, the woman and the man haggled and agreed on a ransom price of 4 million VND. The man did not forget to whisper to Ms. Loi: "Don't tell them this is an Iphone 7 and that there is a lot of important data in the phone. If they know, they will sell the phone." After agreeing on the ransom price, the woman told Ms. Loi that she had a family member in the hospital and could not wait and would sell the phone.

Ms. Loi contacted and conveyed the woman's message to the man. The man asked Ms. Loi to help with the ransom payment and wait for him to meet her later to pay the ransom and reward her. Ms. Loi agreed and withdrew 4 million VND from the ATM and gave it to the woman.

After receiving the money, the woman left. Ms. Loi waited for the man and called back, the man said he was at Yen Ly bridge, asking Ms. Loi to give her address so he could go to her house to send the ransom money. After returning home, Ms. Loi called the man but could not contact him.

Evidence of the case. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Realizing that she had been scammed, Ms. Loi went to the police station to report the incident. After receiving the report, the Nghi Loc District Police Department investigated and verified. Using professional measures, at 3:00 p.m. on May 13, the investigation agency determined that Nguyen Thi Ninh was the subject who caused the above fraud and made an emergency arrest when the subject was present in Quan Hanh town preparing to catch a bus to the north.

At the investigation agency, Nguyen Thi Ninh initially confessed that in May 2017, she bought two yellow Iphone7-style phones at Dong Xuan market (Hanoi) for 1.1 million VND each and bought several SIM cards to install in the phones.

Ninh then discussed with her husband about going to Nghe An to fraudulently sell the phone she had just bought at a high price. When they arrived in Nghe An, Ninh and her husband set up a scenario to trick the victim and take possession of her property.

Nhat Tuan