Impersonating a government official, defrauding customers by selling books at high prices

On May 17, the leader of Nghi Loc District Police said that the unit had just investigated and clarified two subjects in Thanh Hoa province who impersonated officers of the Nghi Loc District Culture Department to sell books to two religious establishments in Nghi Loc District.

Previously, on May 2, Ms. Le Thi Tam - secretary of the Missionaries of Charity Congregation, Vinh Diocese (in Nghi Dien commune, Nghi Loc district) received a phone call from a woman claiming to be an officer of the Culture Department of Nghi Loc District People's Committee.

Subject Trinh Van Diep. Photo: Nhat Tuan

This person told Ms. Tam that in the near future, the provincial Department of Culture and Sports will issue a Cultural Heritage Certificate to the Missionaries of Charity and invite the religious order to buy sample documents to fill out at a price of 1.1 million VND per set. The woman also added that after being recognized, the religious order will receive financial support of 10 million VND from the province.

Ms. Tam agreed and ordered 2 sets of documents for 2.2 million VND. But later, Ms. Tam felt suspicious so she reported it to Nghi Loc District Police.

Verifying the information, Nghi Loc Police learned that Nghi Loc District People's Committee and the Provincial Department of Culture and Sports did not have this policy. On May 4, Nghi Loc District Post Office sent a package to the Congregation of Missionaries of Charity, Vinh Diocese.

Coordinating the inspection, the Police and Nghi Loc District Post Office found that the package had a paper on the outside saying "Department of Culture and Information", "Nguyen Quang Hai", inside the package were two sets of books. The package was delivered by the Post Office in the form of COD (receive the goods then pay). The sender was Nga Son District Post Office, Thanh Hoa Province.

Trinh Van Diep met and apologized to the representative of the Missionaries of Charity. Photo: Nhat Tuan

Then, on May 7, Nghi Loc District Police received information that the Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross, Vinh Diocese in Nghi Dien Commune, was similarly scammed. The unit promptly informed this religious establishment of the scam and advised them to refuse to receive the package when it arrived.

Using professional measures, on May 16, Nghi Loc District Police identified the person impersonating an officer of the Nghi Loc District Department of Culture as Ho Thi Hue (born in 1994, residing in Hamlet 9, Luc Son Village, Nga Giap Commune, Nga Son District, Thanh Hoa Province).

Hue confessed that she and her husband Trinh Van Diep (born in 1990) carried out information fraud to sell books. Diep went online to find phone numbers and addresses of agencies, businesses, religious establishments... Then, Hue claimed to be an officer of the Department of Culture - Sports, Department of Transport, Propaganda Department, Fire Police... to market and sell specialized books or related documents.

Two sets of books that Trinh Van Diep and Ho Thi Hue fraudulently sold. Photo: Nhat Tuan

When the victim agreed, Hue and his wife bought the books at a cheap price, then printed a new price tag from 100,000 VND to 300,000 VND higher per book and pasted it over the old price tag. The subject then just had to bring his ID card to the post office to receive the money.

Nghi Loc District Police Department recommends that organizations and individuals grasp this information and be vigilant to avoid being scammed or lured into buying books.