A vigilant bank manager helped police uncover a sophisticated scam.

On March 16th, the Investigation Police Department of Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, announced that they have initiated a criminal case and indicted Dao Duy Thanh (born in 1996, residing in Son La City, Son La Province) for the crime of "Forging seals and documents of agencies and organizations."

According to police records, on December 23, 2021, the Kim Giang Ward Police (Thanh Xuan District) received a report from Mr. Luu Duc Thanh, director of a bank located in Kim Giang Ward, regarding a male individual using an identity card bearing the name Huynh Trong Nhan to conduct transactions, including transferring and withdrawing 65 million VND in cash from an account under the name Huynh Trong Nhan, and authorizing a payment of 400 million VND from an account under the name Nguyen Manh Toan... During the transaction, Mr. Thanh discovered that the identity card showed signs of forgery and reported it to the Kim Giang Ward Police.

During the investigation, the Thanh Xuan District Police clarified the actions of the suspect Dao Duy Thanh. At the police station, Thanh confessed that he knew Nguyen Thi Huong Huyen (born in 1990, residing in Kim Boi district, Hoa Binh province) and Nguyen Manh Toan (born in 1989, residing in Thanh Oai district, Hanoi) and that Huyen had informed him about the need for many people to buy bank accounts.

The suspects are Dao Duy Thanh, Nguyen Manh Toan, and Nguyen Thi Huong Huyen.

Therefore, Huyen would forge multiple ID cards with Toan and Thanh's photos attached to them to use at banks to open accounts. When opening accounts, they would register two phone numbers: one to receive OTP codes for money transfer applications on their phones, and another to receive balance change notifications when money is transferred into the account (these phone numbers were prepared by Huyen).

After successfully opening the account and registering the phone number to receive the OTP code, Huyen would give it to the buyer, while she kept the phone number for balance change notifications. Upon seeing the money transferred to the account, Huyen would inform Thanh and Toan so that the two could go to the bank and use the fake ID cards used to open the account to withdraw the money, thus embezzling the funds. Each time they successfully embezzled money, Huyen would share it equally among them.

Specifically, from April 2021 to the end of July 2021, Huyen gave Thanh a total of 7 fake ID cards, which Thanh used to open approximately 30 accounts at various banks. After successfully opening the accounts, Thanh handed all of them back to Huyen to sell to customers. Using this method, Thanh and Huyen repeatedly stole money from these bank accounts. Huyen gave Thanh about 70 million VND. On December 23, 2021, Thanh used a fake ID card under the name Huynh Trong Nhan to steal 465 million VND from a bank in Kim Giang, but was caught and detained.

Based on the collected evidence, the police also summoned Nguyen Manh Toan for questioning. At the police station, Toan confessed that around June 2021, Huyen gave him a total of 7 fake ID cards. Toan used 3 of the fake ID cards Huyen gave him to open 7 accounts at different banks.

When opening the account, Toan also registered two phone numbers as Huyen had instructed beforehand. After successfully opening the account, Toan handed over the account number and fake ID card to Huyen so that Huyen could sell them to customers and embezzle over 4 million VND, of which Huyen gave Toan over 2 million VND.

Furthermore, Toan also knew that Huyen had instructed Thanh to use a fake ID card under the name Huynh Trong Nhan to open a bank account, and then sell this account to a man living in Ho Chi Minh City to use for trading stocks and Forex (buying and selling cryptocurrencies).

On December 23, 2021, Huyen called Toan to inform him that the account sold to a man in Ho Chi Minh City had just received 465 million VND. Huyen said she would have Thanh withdraw 65 million VND, and the remaining 400 million VND would be transferred to an account under the name Nguyen Manh Toan. Toan would then withdraw the money and they would share it. However, when Toan attempted the transaction, the bank reported that the money was frozen and could not be withdrawn. Toan informed Thanh of this and went home.

The Thanh Xuan District Police determined that the suspects in the case used fake identity cards to open accounts at multiple banks. When opening the accounts, they used two mobile phone numbers registered with the banks; one number was used to register to receive information about account balance changes, and the other number was used to register to receive OTP codes when using online banking.

Subsequently, the perpetrators advertised the accounts for sale online. When a buyer was found, they would send the ATM card along with the phone number receiving the OTP code via courier service. They retained the phone number to receive balance change notifications. Upon discovering money in the user's account, they would use a fake ID card to complete the transaction and steal the victim's money.

Using the aforementioned methods, the suspects successfully carried out numerous scams and stole money from victims. Investigative documents indicate that the suspects opened several accounts at seven banks under the names of the following account holders: Huynh Trong Nhan, Dang Quoc Dat, Nguyen Van Tan, Le Van Tuong, Dang Quoc Dat, Nguyen Viet Quang, Hoang Thien Khiem, Nguyen Tuong Hung, Phan Duc Thinh, Nguyen Duc Viet, Phan Duc Thinh...

Currently, Nguyen Thi Thuong Huyen has left her place of residence, and the Thanh Xuan District Police Investigation Agency has issued a notice to search for her; at the same time, they are consolidating the case file against Nguyen Manh Toan to handle it according to the law.

To assist in the expanded investigation of the case, the Thanh Xuan District Police Investigation Agency requests that anyone who is a victim of the aforementioned case contact investigator Nguyen Van Ha at the phone number: 0913132121 or come to the headquarters of the Thanh Xuan District Police Investigation Agency, Hanoi, at the address: 58 Vu Trong Phung Street, Thanh Xuan Trung Ward, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi to report.

The police also advise people not to buy or use bank accounts offered for sale on social media, as this can lead to unfortunate consequences.