Exposing the scams perpetrated by 'fortune teller' Phan Thu Trang, who defrauded over 28 billion VND.

The police in District 5 (Ho Chi Minh City) are expanding their investigation and calling on victims who were defrauded by Phan Thi Thu Trang (born in 1990) to contact them to assist in the investigation.

According to information from the District 5 Police, Phan Thi Thu Trang, also known as "medium" Phan Thu Trang, claims to be...fortune tellerand used multiple Facebook accounts such as “Phan Thu Trang”, “Phong Thủy Tâm Linh - Phan Thu Trang” to post advertisements for fortune-telling services.

Among them, the account "Phong Thủy Tâm Linh - Phan Thu Trang" attracted up to 20,000 followers with posts related to fortune telling services, selling feng shui products, astrology, physiognomy, resolving bad luck, and warding off misfortune, mostly containing unscientific content. Despite this, many people still trusted Trang and booked appointments with her for fortune telling or to buy feng shui items.

Among the victims, Ms. M. (residing in District 5) was scammed out of nearly 800 million VND after contacting Trang to buy herbal incense. Upon meeting, Trang claimed that Ms. M. was "possessed by a spirit," causing her bad luck, and that "Ms. M.'s house was cursed, requiring a ritual to remove the bad luck."

Subsequently, Trang repeatedly cited spiritual reasons to persuade Ms. M. to transfer more money to organize the "highest offering ceremony" to ward off bad luck, even threatening that Ms. M.'s family would soon face a death or serious legal problems if she did not continue with the ceremony.

Similarly, Ms. H. (also residing in District 5) was swindled out of 2.9 billion VND by Trang. Initially, Ms. H. only contacted Trang to buy feng shui bracelets, but after meeting, Trang caused her anxiety about many spiritual matters.

Trang persuaded Mrs. H. to perform rituals to ward off bad luck and drive away evil spirits to protect her family, and repeatedly asked Mrs. H. to transfer money to carry out the rituals.

Within 15 days of September 2023, Ms. H. transferred over 2.6 billion VND to Trang. However, seeing that the task was not being completed, Ms. H. demanded her money back. When Ms. H. inquired, Trang claimed she couldn't perform the ritual yet because she was busy with many "guests" and suggested transferring an additional 300 million VND to continue helping with the "warding off bad luck."

Furthermore, another woman was also swindled out of nearly 210 million VND by Trang after having her fortune told at the beginning of the year. Trang demanded that this woman perform rituals to "ward off the influence of the Tai Sui, resolve the financial and wealth issues, and avert the three calamities," along with many other reasons such as "the house being cursed, the child being born at an inauspicious hour, land disputes, and many legal issues related to her husband."

To date, the police have determined that Phan Thi Thu Trang has defrauded more than 28 billion VND, and over 40 people have come forward to report her as a victim of this "female fortune teller."

On October 25th, the District 5 Police Department initiated a criminal case and temporarily detained Phan Thi Thu Trang on charges of "fraudulent appropriation of property".

The District 5 Police Department requests that victims of Phan Thi Thu Trang contact the Criminal Investigation Team of the District 5 Police Department at 359 Tran Hung Dao Street (Ward 10, District 5) or call investigator Le Thanh Trung at 0993.354.852 to cooperate in providing information and assisting in the investigation.

Hoang Tho