Borrowing money through social networks, a woman in a resettlement area lost 45 million VND

Ms. VTM (30 years old) residing in Tan Ngoc village, Ngoc Lam commune said that on the afternoon of November 17, she made a transaction on the phone to help her friend LTH (32 years old) in the same village to borrow money online. Ms. M. transferred money 3 times to the account number0779940737SHB bank, beneficiary name is Tran Huu Trong with total amount of 45 million VND.

According to Ms. H., her family was building a house and was short of money to pay the building materials store when she saw a loan ad on Facebook, so she immediately contacted them. After texting back and forth, the "loan lender" agreed to lend Ms. H. money and asked her to complete the "documentation" to borrow 20 million VND.

Ms. H. came to Ms. M.'s house to visit, Ms. M. helped Ms. H. provide personal information and complete the loan "application". However, when the "application" was completed, the "lender" used the excuse that the application was wrong, missing the words "Tan Ngoc version", and asked Ms. H. to send 5,000,000 VND to correct the "application".

Successful transfer notification on Ms. M's phone. Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. H. and Ms. M. asked the "lender" to provide their identity and personal information, then a nickname named Nguyen Thi Bao Ly sent via Facebook a photo of a woman holding a citizen identification card with the name Nguyen Thi Bao Ly, hometown and permanent residence in Do Luong town.

The "loan lender" sent Ms. M. her photo and personal information. Photo: NVCC

Trusting the "lending partner" through the image, Ms. M. used her phone to make a transaction to transfer 5 million VND to the account number provided by the "partner" to edit the profile.

Then, for various reasons, the “lender” continued to ask Ms. H. to transfer money to “complete the application”. From 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the same day, Ms. M. borrowed money from relatives to help Ms. H. and transferred 2 more times to the above account, each time 20 million VND.

After Ms. M transferred 45 million VND, the nickname Nguyen Thi Bao Ly informed her that she had transferred to the wrong account and asked to transfer it back. The message from the "lender" sent to Ms. H's phone said: "If you can handle it, take the money back. If you can't handle it, I will have to close your file and send it to the state treasury."

Ms. M. added that the “lender” still requested the money transfer. Last night, she borrowed money from relatives, acquaintances, and friends but no one lent her any money, so she had no money to transfer.

Loan "profile" created by strangers on social networks. Photo: NVCC

Until the morning of November 18, Ms. M. still believed that she had transferred the money by mistake, so she texted and called several people to tell them about the mistaken transfer and asked how to get it back. Through the analysis of some knowledgeable people, she realized that she had been scammed.

“My money is 20 million VND, the money an acquaintance sent to a relative is 5 million VND, I borrowed 20 million VND, all transferred to that card. Last night, I was like a lost soul, just hearing them say transfer money, I transferred it” - Ms. M. said, crying.

In a moment of anxiety and confusion, Ms. M went to the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Thanh Chuong District branch, to inform that she had transferred money to a stranger last night and asked the bank staff for advice. At this time, Ms. M. contacted the phone number0385 216 809from the "lending partner" side, only hear beep, beep...

Messages exchanged between Ms. H. and a stranger online. Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. LTH shared: Because she does not have a bank account and is not familiar with phone transactions, Ms. M. handles everything. "My family is still working and still in debt" - Ms. H. said.

Talking about Ms. M. being cheated out of a large sum of money, Ms. VTL (52 years old) - Ms. M.'s biological mother said: Yesterday afternoon, M. called to borrow money from her nephew who was working at the company, to help Ms. H., he lent her 20 million immediately, then transferred it all to them. When I was at home, I would also ask who she borrowed the money to transfer to, and for what reason, to prevent it in time.

"Losing 45 million VND at once, I feel anxious hearing that. Now I have to hold a ceremony to pray for him, encourage him, give him money instead of him, pray for his health, peace of mind to do business and earn money to pay off his debt" - Mrs. L. said.

Recently, in Thanh Chuong district, there have been many scams on social networks, with tricks such as: lending money, paying money to complete the application; winning a prize, paying the prize fee; receiving gifts from abroad, paying money to clear customs; transferring money into an account and receiving one and a half times, double the amount; hacking Facebook accounts to send messages to borrow, borrow money...

Although this form of fraud is not new and has been widely publicized in the media, some people, especially women, are still gullible and lose money unjustly.