Female con artist stages fake fortune-telling ritual to swindle over 1 billion VND.

The Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police has issued a decision to initiate a criminal case and prosecute Pham Thi Ha (born in 1991, residing in Dinh Hung commune, Yen Dinh district, Thanh Hoa province) for the crime of fraud and appropriation of property. Because Ha is raising a young child, she has been released on bail and is subject to a travel ban.

According to investigative documents, Pham Thi Ha used to work as a massage therapist at a hotel in Vinh City, so she knew Ms. Mai (a resident of Vinh City). Ha told Ms. Mai that her name was Ha Anh and that she was from Con Cuong town.

Ms. Mai was financially well-off but very superstitious. Taking advantage of this, Ha concocted a scam to swindle money from Ms. Mai.

Accordingly, Ha used a different phone number to log into a Zalo account and impersonated her mother-in-law to chat with Mai. Through social media, under the guise of being Mai's mother-in-law, Ha claimed to have the ability to read fortunes, interpret spiritual matters, and ward off bad luck.

The suspect is Pham Thi Ha. Photo: Anh Quan

During this period, Mai's business was not going well, so she asked her mother-in-law, Ha, to perform a ritual to ward off bad luck. To perform the ritual, Ha requested Mai send 113 million VND in cash to Con Cuong. Because she didn't have enough money, Mai only sent 50 million VND, promising to pay the remaining amount later.

Between August 2018 and June 2019, Ha demanded and forced Mai to send many offerings, including expensive imported food, televisions, refrigerators, and high-end phones, via post or bus. To gain Mai's trust, Ha repeatedly sent back a small amount of the offerings for Mai to "receive blessings."

"Ha said she was pregnant and that performing the ritual while encountering a pregnant woman would bring bad luck, in an attempt to avoid contact with Mai. Furthermore, Ha claimed that the victim was experiencing bad luck, and that if the ritual wasn't performed quickly to ward off misfortune, her family members would also suffer," a police investigator said.

Realizing that Ha's actions were fraudulent, Ms. Mai reported her to the police. The police identified the perpetrator of the scheme as Pham Thi Ha, originally from Thanh Hoa province, currently living with her boyfriend in Luc Da commune, Con Cuong district.

Based on the documents and evidence collected, the Criminal Police Department caught Pham Thi Ha red-handed while she was receiving offerings sent by Ms. Mai. At the time of the arrest, the task force seized an iPhone X, 19 rings, necklaces, and earrings of various kinds, 109 million VND in cash, and a box containing vases, water glasses, a set of bells and gongs, etc.

At the police station, Pham Thi Ha confessed to all her crimes. From September 2018 to June 2019, Ha committed fraud and misappropriated assets totaling over 1 billion VND.

Besides Ms. Mai, Ha also defrauded several other people using similar tactics. The Criminal Police Department is urging anyone who has been a victim of Pham Thi Ha to come forward and report the incident.