Elderly woman swindled out of nearly 2 billion VND by imposter posing as police officer.
The imposter, posing as a police officer, informed Ms. T. in Hanoi that she was involved in a drug case and demanded that she transfer money to an account provided by the imposter to prove her legitimate assets. Ms. T. transferred nearly 2 billion VND to the imposter's account.
On October 16th, the Long Bien District Police (Hanoi) announced that they are verifying and investigating a case of impersonating a police officer to defraud and steal nearly 2 billion VND from an elderly woman in the area.
Specifically, on September 30th, the Bo De Ward Police (Long Bien District) received a report from Ms. T. (born in 1946), residing in Long Bien District. In her report, Ms. T. stated that she received a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer from Long Bien District.
The scammer informed Ms. T. that she was involved in a drug case and demanded that she transfer money to an account he provided to prove her legitimate assets. Believing him, she transferred nearly 2 billion VND to the scammer's account. After realizing she had been scammed, Ms. T. reported the incident to the police.
Hanoi City Police advise citizens to be vigilant and spread awareness about this scam to their relatives and friends, especially to elderly family members.
The police will work with citizens by sending invitations or summonses directly or through local police, and under no circumstances will they ask citizens to transfer money to a bank account.
When encountering suspicious cases of fraud like the ones described above, people should immediately report them to the nearest police station.