Selling virtual corn on Facebook, scamming hundreds of millions of dong
Thinking that a customer living more than 1,400km away who was "trapped" into buying virtual goods on Facebook that he had set up would not find any trace, the perpetrator could not have expected that after more than half a year, his actions would be exposed.
On the afternoon of December 11, the Investigation Police Agency of Tuy Hoa City (Phu Yen) announced that it had concluded the investigation and proposed that the same-level People's Procuracy prosecute the accused Luong Thi Nhung (born in 1993, residing in residential group 3, Tang Loong town, Bao Thang district, Lao Cai province) for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
Investigation results show that in mid-November 2022, Nhung plotted to commit fraud by using the Facebook account "Nguyen Hong" to sell virtual sticky corn at a very low price. After connecting with the first customer, Mr. Ngo Quang H (born in 1992, residing in Ngoc Phuoc 1 village, Binh Ngoc commune, Tuy Hoa city), Nhung called on messenger video to introduce some bags of sticky corn, then borrowed an acquaintance's account to convince Mr. H to transfer 360 million VND 3 times to buy 20 tons of sticky corn.
Luong Thi Nhung after her fraudulent activities were exposed.
When Mr. H hired a truck to go to the meeting point in Tan Thanh ward, Thai Nguyen city (Thai Nguyen) to receive the goods as agreed, he could not find Nhung. Mr. H called many times to request delivery or payment, but Nhung used the excuse that the corn grower had taken money from her to avoid responsibility, then changed her Facebook and blocked phone contact with Mr. H.
After receiving the crime report, detectives from the Tuy Hoa City Police Criminal Police Team reviewed the images and information on Facebook "Nguyen Hong" kept by the victim, and searched for people selling sticky corn via Facebook.
From the collected documentary evidence, by mid-June 2023, a reconnaissance team traveled more than 1,400km from Phu Yen to Lao Cai to deploy professional measures to investigate and expose the fraudster's whereabouts.
During the investigation, Nhung not only confessed to defrauding Mr. H by selling fake glutinous corn online, but also used the Facebook account "Ha Tran" converted from Facebook "Nguyen Hong" to defraud Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thai S (born in 1989, residing in Hoa Khe ward, Thanh Khe district, Da Nang city) of 10 million VND in deposit to buy glutinous corn.
