Beware of scams involving the appropriation of property using fake land ownership certificates.

Many sophisticated tricks

According to authorities, there are currently many forms of fraud related to land use right certificates. A typical example is the use of fake land ownership certificates ("red books") to fraudulently sell or mortgage them to obtain loans and seize assets.

Accordingly, these individuals often go online to buy or order fake land ownership certificates, forged personal documents, etc., then fraudulently sell the land at low prices or use it as collateral to borrow money, and then embezzle it.

Typically, on February 20, 2025, the People's Court of Nghe An province held a first-instance trial to hear the case against defendant Phan Thi Thu Hoai (born in 1976), residing in Thanh Chuong town, Thanh Chuong district, for the crimes of "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and "Using forged documents of an organization".

According to the indictment, Phan Thi Thu Hoai knew Mr. Tran Xuan V. (residing in Thanh Chuong town) and was aware that he ran a pawnshop and credit business. Around the end of March 2022, due to debt and the need for money for personal expenses, Hoai conceived the idea of ​​having four fake documents made to use as collateral for Mr. V. in order to embezzle money.

To carry out her plan, Hoai went online and ordered four fake land ownership certificates and fake vehicle registration certificates for a total cost of nearly 40 million VND. After ordering the four fake documents and waiting to receive them, Hoai used the real documents belonging to other people twice, taking advantage of Mr. V.'s trust to borrow money.

Hoai's intention was to wait until she received the forged documents, then use them as collateral to retrieve the real documents and embezzle money from Mr. V.

After receiving the forged documents, Hoai used them twice to defraud Mr. V. of money. The investigating agency determined that the total amount of money Hoai defrauded Mr. V. of in four separate instances was over 3.6 billion VND.

At the trial held on February 20, 2025, the panel of judges sentenced defendant Phan Thi Thu Hoai to 14 years for "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and 3 years for "Using forged documents of an organization." The combined sentence requires the defendant to serve a total of 17 years in prison.

Besides mortgages and pledges, fraudsters also use fake land ownership certificates to swindle money from victims through real estate transactions. This is especially problematic now, as the Land Registration Office and its branches handle a large number of administrative procedures.

Taking advantage of people's reluctance to deal with administrative procedures, especially those related to land use right certificates (land titles), some individuals boast about their extensive connections or impersonate employees and officials of state agencies, claiming they can resolve land procedures quickly and efficiently in order to seize property.

For example, in October 2023, authorities decided to initiate criminal proceedings and indict Le Thanh Hung, residing in Dien Ky commune, Dien Chau district, for the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

According to the investigation results, Le Thanh Hung claimed to be able to handle "all-inclusive" land-related procedures such as: preparing documents for changing land use purposes, changing information on land use right certificates, preparing documents for land subdivision and issuing land use right certificates.

To gain the victims' trust, after receiving the money, Hung forged land use right registration receipts, using fake official seals to stamp the documents and give them to the victims. In addition, he ordered fake land use right certificates online and then gave them to the victims.

Using the above methods, from the end of October 2022 to June 2023, Hung defrauded and misappropriated assets from 6 victims totaling more than 2.7 billion VND.

At the trial held on September 10, 2024, the People's Court of Nghe An province sentenced Le Thanh Hung to 16 years in prison for "Fraudulent appropriation of property" and 6 years in prison for "Forging documents of organizations; Using forged seals and documents of organizations".

In addition, some individuals attempt to steal information from landowners' land titles ("red books") that they wish to transfer, using sophisticated methods to forge fake land titles. They then use these fake titles to swap genuine ones, subsequently falsifying the owner's personal documents, replacing their own photos with those of their accomplices, to conduct transactions at notary offices.

Some individuals forge land ownership certificates, then carry out "deposit" transactions to buy and sell land, thereby defrauding victims of their money...

Increase vigilance.

This situation occurs partly due to the negligence of people when conducting land transactions, and a lack of verification of information related to ownership rights.

Some people who jointly invest in real estate, receive land transfers, etc., do not thoroughly research the information related to the Land Use Right Certificate. This is a loophole that allows individuals to exploit it to forge Land Use Right Certificates in order to commit fraud and misappropriate assets..

Furthermore, although the law already has strict penalties for forging documents, including land ownership certificates ("red books"), (specifically according to the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017), anyone who forges seals, documents, or other papers of agencies or organizations, or uses forged seals, documents, or papers to commit illegal acts, shall be fined from 30 to 100 million VND; sentenced to non-custodial correctional labor for up to 3 years; or imprisoned from 6 months to 2 years. In addition, this act may be punishable by up to 7 years in prison).

However, with the explosion of document forgery technology and the development of the internet, some individuals intentionally violate the law and abet fraudulent activities.

For example, on December 15, 2024, authorities in Nghe An province directly went to Dong Nai to arrest and conduct an urgent search of the residence of Nguyen Duc Tinh at address RD38/08, Long Hung resettlement area, Phuoc Hoi hamlet, Long Hung commune, Bien Hoa city, seizing hundreds of fake documents and many tools and machines used for forging documents. Further investigation led to the arrest of two more individuals involved in the document forgery ring.

During questioning at the investigative agency, Nguyen Duc Tinh confessed that from the beginning of 2024 until his arrest, he and his accomplices had successfully forged thousands of documents for clients nationwide; for each forged document, he earned between 3 and 5 million VND.

To prevent and deter fraudulent activities and property misappropriation, authorities advise citizens to be vigilant when using services related to land administration procedures.

In particular, when administrative procedures are needed, especially those related to land ownership documents, it is advisable to go directly to the relevant government office or agency, rather than through intermediaries, to avoid financial losses and other problems.

In case of detecting irregularities in land transactions or suspecting that land ownership certificates or other documents are forged, citizens should immediately report to the nearest commune or ward police station and collect relevant documents and information to report to the authorities for handling according to regulations.

In addition, notary offices and the People's Committees of communes and wards need to strictly check the legality of land use right certificates and house ownership certificates provided by citizens, thereby detecting forged cases early and coordinating with functional forces to handle them promptly.

Gia Huy