Beware of scams impersonating police and journalists

Usually, he goes online to look for news related to security and order, especially criminal cases. When he sees that someone is about to be brought to trial, Thong tries to approach the victim's family and claims to be a police officer...

While the Can Tho and Bac Lieu police are investigating the actions of two people impersonating police officers to commit fraud, in Lap Vo and Lai Vung districts (both in Dong Thap province), people impersonating police officers have successfully carried out robberies of passersby.

In Tien Giang, on April 13, a service driver drove a car equipped with emergency flashing lights, along with many logos, including the logo "People's Police Television ANTV - Ministry of Public Security"...

According to the leader of the Traffic Police Department of Tien Giang Province Police, at around 11:30 p.m. on April 12, the unit's on-duty unit received a report from the people about a 7-seat car with license plate 51F-293.47 running like a "crazy car" on National Highway 1A. It is worth noting that this car had emergency flashing lights and many logos, including the logo "People's Police Television ANTV - Ministry of Public Security".

Upon receiving the news, the task force promptly stopped the vehicle for inspection. The driver of the vehicle presented a press card under the name of Do Nguyen Phuong Lam. His press card at first glance looked very similar to the press card issued by the Ministry of Information and Communications in early 2016. Strangely, the card had no stamp and was valid for 10 years, twice the validity of the journalists' cards. Not only that, the police force discovered that the vehicle also had a sign that said "Press", a sign that said "Ministry of Public Security - Ho Chi Minh City Police".

Lam admitted that his main occupation was driving a service vehicle; a friend made the above documents and logos for his convenience on the road. The Tien Giang Police Department of Road Traffic Police has drawn up a record of the violation for the act of "Vehicle not having priority but using priority signal lights", confiscated the fake documents, and coordinated with the functional unit to verify and clarify.

A subject impersonating a police officer and fake evidence and press card.

Returning to the case of impersonating a police officer to defraud in Bac Lieu, according to Major Ly Minh Khuong - Deputy Head of the Criminal Police Department, Bac Lieu Provincial Police, the investigation agency has just signed a decision to prosecute the accused, issuing a temporary detention order for Le Van Thong (36 years old, residing in Dap Say Hamlet, Tan An Luong Commune, Vung Liem District, Vinh Long Province) for fraud and appropriation of property. To find "prey", every day, Thong usually goes on the Internet to look for news related to security and order, especially criminal cases. When he sees that someone is about to be brought to trial, Thong tries to approach the victim's family and claims to be a police officer.

At the end of March, Thong, wearing a police uniform and holding the rank of lieutenant, went to the house of Ms. Le Thi Thien (in Hong Dan district, Bac Lieu) and introduced himself as Kien, an officer at the detention center of Vinh Loi district police (Bac Lieu). "Officer Kien" informed that during his detention, Ms. Thien's husband (Mr. Ho Van Manh) had edema and was being treated, so he asked the family to arrange a visit. Thong also said that Mr. Manh was about to be brought to trial and could be sentenced to 15-17 years in prison, but if the family wanted, he could "arrange" to reduce the sentence by 1-2 years.

Her husband was arrested for involvement in a serious crime, so when she heard about the “kind officer”, Mrs. Thien was very happy and hoped to get help. A few days later, Mrs. Thien borrowed 5 million VND and then went to the bank to transfer the money to the personal account of “officer Kien”. After transferring the money, she excitedly called but could not contact the “officer”.

Knowing that she had encountered a scammer, Ms. Thien filed a complaint to the investigation agency. Thong was later arrested by Bac Lieu police while hiding in Ca Mau. To date, Thong has confessed to having successfully committed many scams in several provinces in the Southwest, of which 3 have been cleared by the investigation agency.

Regarding the subject impersonating a police officer who is being investigated at the Ninh Kieu District Police, an investigator said that Nguyen Trung Hieu (32 years old, residing in Hung Loi Ward, Ninh Kieu District) is unemployed, unemployed, and has no stable residence. In 2010, Hieu met Le Tuan Khanh (residing in An Khanh Ward, Ninh Kieu District) and introduced himself as a "Criminal Police Officer".

At the end of January 2016, Khanh’s friend Tran Cao Thanh Huy was caught red-handed selling lottery numbers. Suddenly remembering that his friend was a “criminal police officer”, Khanh went to see Hieu and told him about his friend’s arrest. Less than a week later, Hieu informed Khanh that the person who arrested Huy was his “boss” and expressed his intention to arrange Huy’s release on bail for only 4-5 million VND. However, at that time, Khanh did not mention arranging Huy’s release on bail.

In early March 2016, Hieu met and told Khanh to call Huy's wife, Ms. Ngo Thoai Huynh Ngan, so that the three could discuss Huy's bail. Here, to gain Ms. Ngan's trust, Hieu presented some documents along with a list of people arrested with Huy, in which Hieu had arranged bail for a person named Thu... The subject had defrauded and appropriated 18 million VND from Ms. Ngan.

Lieutenant Colonel Chung Van Tho - Head of Lap Vo District Police (Dong Thap) - said that the district police are urgently investigating the case of impersonating a police officer to rob a passerby.

According to the report of Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam (22 years old, residing in Long Hung B commune, Lap Vo district), at about 2:00 a.m. on April 6, when he was riding his motorbike on Provincial Road 852 (through Long Hung B commune), 4 men on 2 motorbikes, holding electric batons, stopped his motorbike and demanded to check his papers. "I thought they were the district police on patrol, so I complied and gave them my papers. Unexpectedly, these 4 men controlled me and robbed my motorbike and my cell phone" - Mr. Nam said.

Previously, while riding a motorbike from his home to Lai Vung town, Lai Vung district (Dong Thap), Mr. Huynh Van Nghe (56 years old, residing in Tan Hoa commune, Lai Vung district) was stopped by two subjects on a motorbike holding electric batons, claiming to be district police officers, demanding to check the vehicle's documents.

After checking, these two people said that Mr. Nghe did not have a driver's license, violated the Traffic Law, so the vehicle had to be temporarily impounded and taken to the district police station to be resolved. The next morning, when he arrived at Lai Vung district police station, Mr. Nghe realized that he had met a fake police officer.

According to CAND