Various scams lead to fortune teller's 'change of fortune': imprisonment.

In late November 2023, the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Police initiated criminal proceedings against Vo Hoai Nhon (born in 1995) and Nguyen Thi Huong (born in 1996, both residing in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) for the crime of fraud.

Previously, around May 2020, due to financial difficulties, Huong created a Facebook account named "Bi Nguyen" and joined fortune-telling groups with the intention of telling fortunes for others to earn money.

Having worked as an online fortune teller for some time, in early 2021, through several fortune-telling sessions, Huong met someone in Khe Tre town (Nam Dong district, Thua Thien Hue province).

Knowing that this person was having relationship problems and needed a fortune telling about their love life, Huong "predicted" that this person was being haunted by a spirit and needed a ritual to break the spell. Afterward, Huong gave the person the phone number of Vo Hoai Nhon, introducing him as "Master Thinh," a specialist in removing curses and exorcising spirits.

Trusting Huong's words, this person exchanged information with Nhon and transferred 200 million VND to have rituals performed to "resolve" the evil spirits following them.

Another case worth mentioning is that of "fortune teller" Truong Huong, famous on social media for her fortune-telling methods involving splitting betel nuts, with the saying "accept it if it's right, deny it if it's wrong." This "fortune teller" was reported to the police by citizens for accepting 180 million VND to perform rituals for selling houses, showing signs of fraud and embezzlement.

On the afternoon of August 4, 2023, the Kinh Mon Town Police, Hai Duong Province, issued a decision to prosecute and temporarily detain Truong Thi Huong (born in 1986) for investigation into the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" under Article 174, Clause 2, of the Penal Code.

Initial investigations revealed that on December 6, 2022, Mr. Tran The X. and his mother, Ms. Vu Thi H. (born in 1967), went to Huong's house to have their fortunes told, to have their feng shui checked, and to inquire about the difficulties their family was facing.

At that time, Truong Huong "predicted" that Mr. X's house was under a spell, with evil spirits causing trouble in front of the house, bringing misfortune to the family. She said that a ritual to remove the curse (meaning a substitute effigy) was necessary, to "change the fate" of the entire family...

The "medium" suggested to Mr. X that the price for a ritual to change his fate, pray for a successful house sale, and pray for peace was 270 million VND. When the homeowner explained that his family couldn't afford the 270 million VND, Huong reduced the price to 180 million VND.

"The fortune teller" Truong Huong "predicted" to the victim that after the ceremony, the family would be able to sell their house around December 28, 2022. However, when the day passed and the house was not sold, Mr. X. filed a complaint accusing Truong Thi Huong of fraud.

Fortune teller scams people out of billions of dong.

In January 2023, the Hanoi People's Court sentenced Nguyen Thi Ha (born in 1971, residing in Dong Da district, Hanoi), a "fortune teller," to 12 years in prison for fraud and appropriation of property.

Ha already had two prior convictions for fraud and gambling. While awaiting trial by the Hoan Kiem District People's Court (Hanoi) for fraud, Ha committed another scam. Specifically, on February 24, 2022, Ha went to a shoe store on Ton Duc Thang Street to buy shoes and met Ms. Vu Thuy H. (born in 1994), the store manager.

Through conversation, after learning that Ms. H. was unmarried, Ha introduced herself as a fortune teller and immediately predicted that Ms. H. was being haunted by a malevolent spirit, causing difficulties in her love life, and that she needed to perform a ritual to sever the negative karmic ties before she could find a husband.

Trusting the fortune teller, Ms. H. agreed to have him perform a ritual to "sever negative karmic ties" and transferred a total of over 1.3 billion VND in cash, along with 2 taels of gold and an 18k gold necklace worth over 18 million VND, to Ha in several installments.

After receiving the money from the victims, Ha did not hold the ceremony as promised and used the money to buy a motorbike, a mobile phone, and lend money to relatives…

In another trial held in June 2023, the Hanoi People's Court also sentenced "fortune teller" Le Van Tinh (born in 1983, residing in Hoai Duc) to 10 years in prison for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property.

The allegations claim that from November 8, 2021, to January 31, 2022, Tinh introduced himself as a feng shui master who could read horoscopes and physiognomy for others.

To gain the victims' trust and get them to hand over their money, Tinh claimed that the homeowners had "auspicious energy" and a "property sector" (meaning they had good fortune in real estate business), but "this sector is currently blocked, and they must invest money in buying and selling land to test the property sector before it expands and stabilizes, allowing them to earn more money."

Le Van Tinh asked the "female benefactors" to contribute money to buy land to "open up good fortune," promising to sell it later and return the principal and interest. After receiving the victims' money, Tinh did not buy the land but instead misappropriated it for personal expenses. After misappropriating the money, he fled and was arrested on December 16, 2022, on a warrant.

Using this tactic, the "fortune teller" swindled 858 million VND from three victims.