Wrong Child Exchange in Hanoi: Many People Impersonate Relatives to Swindle Money

The main character in the story of the mistaken child exchange 42 years and 29 years ago in Hanoi became a victim of impersonation of relatives to scam.

House number 75 Quan Thanh of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mai Hanh, who had her child mistakenly given away 42 years ago, has been visited by many people.

Ms. Le Thanh Hien, born on December 12, 1987 - who was given to the wrong mother at the maternity hospital in Dong Da district 29 years ago, said that a few days ago, a strange number called, claiming to be her biological sister and biological mother.

The two women spoke with southern accents and said they were in Ho Chi Minh City. They both cried bitterly, saying that they had been looking for Ms. Hien for many years, and that Ms. Hien's father was seriously ill and was in the hospital, needing money for treatment. They asked Ms. Hien to help them top up their phone cards so they could talk longer. Thinking that she had spent a lot of effort and money to find her mother, Ms. Hien topped up twice, each time a 200,000 VND card, as requested by the person who spoke to her.

Ms. Hien loaded the card and asked them to fly to Hanoi to ask the police to take a DNA sample. If they were relatives, they would take care of the plane tickets, hotel, and medical expenses for her father. The two women agreed and arranged to meet Ms. Hien in Hanoi. However, when the time came, Ms. Hien's family arrived at the meeting place but no one was there. Ms. Hien waited for many hours and called the woman's number many times but could not get in touch.

Ms. Ta Thi Thu Van, the eldest daughter of Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai Hanh, whose baby was mistakenly given to her at the maternity hospital in Ba Dinh district 42 years ago, also said that she herself received a phone call from a stranger, calling from abroad.

“This person said they were in Thailand, assured me that they knew someone who was most likely my mother’s biological daughter, who was also in Thailand, and asked me to transfer money to help my family search and contact her. I immediately knew there were signs of fraud, so I stopped contacting this stranger,” said Ms. Ta Thi Thu Van.

“Those people are really unscrupulous. They knew we were anxious to find our relatives, so they took advantage of us to trick us into giving them money,” Ms. Van shared.

According to VOV