Nearly lost 250 million VND due to a phone call from someone impersonating a police officer.
On the afternoon of December 14th, the police of Lang Chanh town, Lang Chanh district, Thanh Hoa province, in coordination with the Vietnam Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (Agribank) Lang Chanh branch, promptly thwarted a scam involving 250 million VND via the internet.
Accordingly, at 1:57 PM on December 14th, Ms. Nguyen Thi Oanh (born in 1957), residing in Chi Linh neighborhood, Lang Chanh town, received a phone call from an unknown person who identified himself as Ha, an officer of the Lang Chanh District Police, and requested Ms. Oanh to connect via Zalo with a person named Thuan in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City.
After Ms. Oanh added him on Zalo, Thuan informed her that she was opening an illegal account for a person named Long at Dong A Bank.
To gain trust, Thuan then connected the call to another person who introduced himself as Colonel Tran Ngoc Hai, working at the Government Inspectorate. Hai then demanded that Ms. Oanh keep the matter secret, otherwise her life and the lives of her family would be in danger… At the same time, Hai demanded that Ms. Oanh declare her assets, bank accounts, savings books…
Upon discovering that Ms. Oanh had money in a savings account opened at the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Lang Chanh Branch, they instructed her to withdraw the money from the bank and transfer it to an account they provided to "assist in the investigation." They also instructed Ms. Oanh to lie to the bank staff when withdrawing the money, claiming she was transferring it to an account to buy land...
Overwhelmed with fear, at 4 PM the same day, Ms. Oanh went to the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank, Lang Chánh Branch, to withdraw her entire savings of 250 million VND and transfer it to the account provided by the perpetrator.
During the process of withdrawing money, the bank staff noticed that Ms. Oanh's behavior was extremely unusual, showing signs of anxiety and unease. They immediately questioned her, assessed the situation, stopped the transaction, and notified the Lang Chánh town police.
Upon receiving information about the incident, Captain Le Duy Trung - Head of the Lang Chanh Town Police - went to the Lang Chanh Branch of the Agricultural and Rural Development Bank to meet with Ms. Oanh to assess the situation. He also explained and educated her about the methods and tactics used by fraudsters, thereby preventing the fraudulent act in a timely manner.
