What did the two subjects in the telecommunications fraud group declare to the police?

(Baonghean.vn) - Luan and Thu were assigned to open and buy back bank accounts; when the victims deposited money, they withdrew it, then transferred it to a third account for Phi to appropriate.

The Criminal Police Department - PC45, Nghe An Provincial Police is still detaining Nguyen Huu Thu (born 1991) and Pham Dinh Luan (born 1993), both residing in My Huong commune, Luong Tai district, Bac Ninh province, to investigate and clarify the form of fraud through telecommunications networks.

Luan and Thu were arrested by the Criminal Police Department on September 1 while staying together in a motel in Hung Yen province.

2 subjects Thu and Luan. Photo: P. B

At the police station, Luan said that the person who introduced him to the fraud ring through the telecommunications network was Phi, his wife's cousin and currently living in Taiwan.

“Phi in Taiwan called and told me to make ATM cards at many banks; or if anyone sells ATM cards, buy them for him, get all the cardholder information, and then sell them to him. I will get 1 million VND for each card I sell to Phi,” Luan said.

Seeing that the job was simple and easy to make money, Luan invited Thu to join. Within nearly 2 months (from July to September 2017), Luan and Thu opened their own bank cards and bought 15 cards from others, then sold them to Phi.

“For debit cards, I only need to provide specific information about the cardholder. For international payment cards, I have to send the card directly to Mr. Phi with the cardholder information,” Luan said.

These ATM cards were used by Phi for the purpose of allowing victims to transfer money. For example, in Nghe An, from August 16 to September 3, in the province, 9 victims were scammed and deposited more than 2 billion VND into the above ATM cards. After the victims deposited money, Phi directed Luan and Thu to withdraw all the money and transfer it to another account, then continue to transfer it to a third account, then Phi and his accomplices appropriated it.

Luan said: "Each time we withdrew money, Phi gave us a 20% commission. At first, I didn't know it was a scam. Then, when I saw the large amount of money, I became suspicious. But because it was easy to make money, we still did it."

In total, the amount of “commission” that Thu and Luan received was approximately 400 million VND. Luan and Thu used this money to rent a hotel room, wait for Phi’s instructions, and for personal expenses. When the police searched Luan and Thu’s residence, in addition to telecommunications equipment and bank cards, the investigation agency seized a large amount of cash.

Evidence seized by the police when arresting the two suspects. Photo: PB

According to investigators from the Criminal Police Department of the Provincial Police, Pham Dinh Luan and Phan Huu Thu were the initial links in a fraud ring that appropriated property through telecommunications networks.

Because the subjects used Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), displaying a “virtual” phone number with the same prefix as the Police number 113, it was difficult for the authorities to trace the calling phone number to serve the investigation. However, by tracing the origin of the bank accounts where the victims deposited money according to the instructions of the scammers, the High-Tech Crime Investigation Police Team found clues.

“It is not yet possible to confirm how many people are in this group and whether there are any foreigners involved. However, through the statements of Luan and Thu, the police agency determined that Phi is an important link and is currently in Taiwan. Currently, the police agency is continuing to investigate and arrest the remaining subjects,” said the leader of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Police Team, PC45.

Nguyen Hung