The sophisticated tactics of a gang posing as businessmen to defraud partners.

The police in Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City, are currently holding five suspects, led by Nguyen Van Son (born in 1994, residing on Ho Van Long Street, Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District), for investigation and prosecution regarding the crime of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".

The police have identified two fraud cases carried out by the aforementioned gang. Simultaneously, the police suspect Son's gang is responsible for many more cases and are searching for victims to expand the investigation.

The group of fraudsters has been arrested.

Recently, Duc Hung Company in Phu Yen, after sourcing goods online, ordered 44.6 tons of steel from Nhat Nguyen Steel Trading Co., Ltd. (headquartered in Binh Chanh district) for a total value of over 730 million VND.

The two parties signed the contract and arranged for delivery at Lien Minh 2 parking lot (Street No. 1, Binh Hung Hoa B Ward, Binh Tan District).

On October 1st, Duc Hung Company hired two trucks to pick up the goods. The two drivers counted the quantity of goods received by counting the steel bars and reported back to Duc Hung Company that they had received all the goods.

Duc Hung Company transferred the full amount to Nhat Nguyen Steel Company's account. However, due to suspicion, upon arrival, the goods were weighed again and it was discovered that the total weight was only 22 tons. Duc Hung Company tried to contact Nhat Nguyen Steel Company again but received no response.

Duc Hung Company reported being defrauded of over 385 million VND.

The police read out the arrest warrant for the fraud group.

Additionally, there was another case where Mr. Duy T. (born in 1984), residing in District 8, Ho Chi Minh City, reported being scammed by someone from Nhat Nguyen Steel Company.

Based on information found online, Mr. T. contacted a representative of Nhat Nguyen Steel Company to purchase various types of steel with a total value of 184 million VND. Mr. T. transferred 92 million VND to the company's account.

But as soon as they received the money, Nhat Nguyen Steel Company blocked all communication with Mr. T. and misappropriated the funds.

Following the reports, the Binh Tan District Police launched an investigation and subsequently arrested five suspects. The suspects admitted to the fraudulent acts of appropriating property in the two cases mentioned above.

Sophisticated scam tactics

The group's scheme involved Son using someone else's ID card to establish Nhat Nguyen Steel Trading Company Limited (headquartered in Thoi Hoa, Vinh Loc A commune, Binh Chanh district). However, this company was not actually operational but advertised on social media and created a website selling cheap steel.

When customers placed orders, Son used the legal entity of Nhat Nguyen Steel Company to sign economic contracts, requesting customers to transfer money to an account. After receiving the money from the customers, Son and his accomplices turned off their phones and blocked them on social media so that customers could not contact them, in order to embezzle the money.

Evidence seized in the case.

Another tactic involved Son instructing his accomplices to use cutting machines to cut various types of iron bars, from 10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm, 20mm, and 28mm in diameter, into sections approximately 25-35cm long. They then used welding machines to weld these sections together into stacked blocks, spraying red paint onto the ends of the iron blocks… This group then inserted these short, welded iron blocks between the ends of bundles of similar iron bars.

When customers were counting the iron pieces, the perpetrators instructed them to count them at a location where short, welded iron ends were mixed together. After counting the required number of iron ends, the perpetrators asked the customers to stand back.

While lifting bundles of iron bars from the suspect's vehicle to the customer's vehicle, the suspects vigorously shook the ends of the tightly bound iron bars to make the iron blocks fall back into the truck bed, and then covered the iron blocks with a tarpaulin.

The scam group used sophisticated methods to defraud businesses and individuals who purchased large quantities of steel.

After receiving all the money from the customers, the perpetrators quickly left the scene, turned off their phones, and blocked social media accounts to prevent customers from contacting them, with the aim of embezzling the money. Using these methods, the perpetrators embezzled 50% or more of the purchased iron.

According to the Binh Tan District Police, this is a gang with sophisticated詐騙 methods and the investigation is being expanded.