Authorities are searching for the suspect who fraudulently swapped 840 lottery tickets belonging to a disabled woman.
Authorities are investigating a case in which a disabled woman was tricked by fraudsters who swapped 840 new lottery tickets, worth 8.4 million VND, with old tickets.
On September 24th, the Bien Hoa City Police, Dong Nai province, announced that they are coordinating with relevant agencies to track down a suspect who allegedly swapped 840 lottery tickets belonging to a disabled woman in the city.
The victim of the lottery ticket scam is Ms. Le Thi Thuan (46 years old, originally from Khanh Hoa province, temporarily residing in Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province). Ms. Thuan is disabled, without arms or legs, illiterate, and earns a living selling lottery tickets on the roadside of Duong Tu Giang street, near Lac Cuong intersection (Ward 2, Tan Tien commune, Bien Hoa city).
According to Ms. Thuan's statement, at around 6:00 AM on September 24th, she used her wheelchair to go to the roadside of Duong Tu Giang to sell lottery tickets as usual. Upon arriving, a man in his 50s, riding a red motorbike and wearing a brown jacket, stopped and asked to buy lottery tickets.
Because she had just arrived at the lottery ticket vendor's stall, Ms. Thuan hadn't had time to sort the tickets out yet, so the stack of 840 lottery tickets remained untouched in her handbag. Ms. Thuan told the man to open the handbag himself and take out the tickets. After a while of choosing, the man bought 8 tickets and gave her 200,000 VND.
While Mrs. Thuan was sorting through the change to give back, the man swapped a stack of lottery tickets (from the same Tien Giang lottery but on a different day) into Mrs. Thuan's basket and then sped away on his motorbike.
Later, Ms. Thuan took the lottery tickets out of her basket and spread them on the table to sell, but because she was illiterate, she didn't notice. It was only when a customer came to buy them that they discovered the entire stack of tickets had old numbers (dated April 30, 2023).
Upon receiving the report, the Tan Tien Ward Police arrived at the scene to record the incident and invited Ms. Thuan to the station for questioning as part of the investigation.
Ms. Thuan stated that she obtained the lottery tickets from the agent on the afternoon of September 23rd, but due to the rain, she was unable to sell them. The stack of 840 tickets, with a total value of 8.4 million VND, remains untouched.
After the incident was posted on social media, many people learned about Ms. Thuan's difficult situation and proactively donated money to help her pay off the principal amount to the dealer.
The incident is currently under investigation.
