Woman scammed out of 140 million VND after receiving a phone call from a stranger.
After receiving a call from someone claiming to be an electricity company employee informing him of months of unpaid electricity bills, a retired official was scammed out of 140 million VND of his savings.
On December 1st, Mr. Pham Quoc Viet, Head of the Police Station of Ward 5, Ca Mau City, stated that the unit had received the complaint.denounceThis is a complaint from Ms. Nguyen Tuyet Hong (born in 1954, residing in Hamlet 6, Ward 5) about being scammed out of all her savings by a phone call from a stranger.
According to Mr. Viet, the Police Station of Ward 5 is in the process of transferring Ms. Hong's complaint to the Ca Mau City Police for further handling within their jurisdiction.
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| The receipt shows withdrawals and transfers of money to a stranger's account after receiving a call from Ms. Hong. |
Ms. Hong is a retired official who doesn't know anyone in Ho Chi Minh City and only stays in her local area. On November 8th, she received a phone call from a stranger claiming to be an electricity company employee. This person said she owed over 58 million VND in electricity bills and that the case was being transferred to the Ho Chi Minh City Police for investigation.
Ms. Hong stated that she didn't believe the news and refuted it. However, to verify that she was being investigated for unpaid electricity bills, the person connected her to another individual who identified himself as Lieutenant Tan, from the Special Task Force of the Ho Chi Minh City Police.
"I also thought that since I hadn't done anything wrong, there was nothing to fear, so I agreed to answer this person's questions over the phone," Ms. Hong shared.
According to Ms. Hong, the man claiming to be Lieutenant Tan said she was involved in a drug trafficking ring and was under investigation. He threatened that if she did not cooperate, he would send forces to arrest her and transport her to Ho Chi Minh City that same afternoon.
From the phone call with Mrs. Hong, the person claiming to be Lieutenant Tan inquired about many things such as whether she owned a car, land, a house, or had savings.
After learning that Ms. Hong had savings, this person immediately demanded that she withdraw all the money from the bank and transfer it to the account of the Ho Chi Minh City Police Investigation Department for verification of its legitimacy. If the verification showed no connection to the case, the money would be returned to her immediately; at the same time, they threatened to take drastic measures against her if she did not comply.
"Hearing the threats, my mind went blank. I was confused and couldn't think straight, so I went to the bank and withdrew all my savings of 140 million VND to transfer to account number 12910000428803, under the name Hoang Khanh Chau," Ms. Hong shared.
However, since transferring the money, Ms. Hong has not received a refund from the recipients and has been unable to contact this group of people. Realizing she had been scammed, Ms. Hong filed a complaint with the local police to request their intervention.
