Old lady lost more than 6 billion VND from a strange phone call

For nearly a month now,Hanoi Criminal Police Department (PC45)received reports from three victims about being scammed for a total of more than seven billion VND. PC45 is coordinating with districts to clarify.

On March 16, Ms. Lam, 75 years old, residing in Tay Ho district, while home alone, received a phone call on her family's landline. The person on the other end of the line claimed to be a police officer from Ho Chi Minh City, and said they were investigating a drug case involving her.

Panicked, the old woman tried to explain, but the "police officer" told her that she had to transfer the money to an account they provided to serve the investigation, and that it would be returned once it was verified that it was not related. In three days from March 16 to March 19, as instructed, Ms. Lam transferred 6.1 billion VND to four accounts at different banks. Only then did the old woman realize she had been scammed.

On April 11, using a similar trick, a victim in Tan Mai street, Hoang Mai district received a phone call from someone impersonating the police, asking to transfer more than 1.1 billion VND... Another victim was also tricked when receiving the phone call and transferred 260 million VND to them.

According to PC45 officers, when working with individuals or organizations, the police always send invitations or summonses through the local police. The police recommend that when receiving a strange phone call, people should ask for the name, place of work, invitation, or summons to directly contact that agency.

* Victim's name has been changed.