Impersonating a police officer to read the indictment via video, defrauding an old woman of nearly 200 million VND
Ms. L. (77 years old) was lucky to escape a 200 million VND scam when she received a video call from a person impersonating a police officer, reading the arrest warrant against her.
On May 8, Son La Provincial Police said that Ms. Pham Thi L. (77 years old, residing in Moc Chau town, Son La) received a call from an unknown phone number.
The caller was a man who claimed to be a Hanoi City Police officer and informed that Ms. L. was under investigation for being involved in a drug trafficking ring.
After chatting via voice call, the scammers continued to video call Ms. L.
In this call, the group dressed as police officers and filmed a realistic working headquarters, in order to create absolute trust in Ms. L., forcing her to follow all their instructions.
According to the police, the group of scammers staged a scene of reading the order to prosecute the case and the defendant, then asked Ms. L. to transfer all her savings into the account they provided.
Because she was so scared of the threats, Ms. L. immediately took all her savings of nearly 200 million VND to the bank to transfer to the scammers.
However, before going to the bank, Ms. L. stopped by Thao Nguyen Ward Police Station for advice. Here, after listening to her entire story, the police officers quickly determined that she was the victim of a sophisticated fraud to appropriate her property.
