Old man reports loss of 1.3 billion VND after call impersonating police

Hai Phong Police Department's Criminal Police Department is verifying the report of the 73-year-old man, residing in Kien An district.

He said that on the morning of July 3, he received a phone call from someone claiming to be an investigator from Hai Phong Police, informing him that he was involved in a drug and money laundering case that had just been cracked down by the Ministry of Public Security.

The "police" said that there were documents showing that he had borrowed more than 6 billion VND from a bank and there was a statement about his participation in transnational drug trafficking. According to this "police", this was only the initial investigation information, he could have been falsely accused so he asked to confess everything to prove his innocence.

"He said he checked the bank's camera system data and didn't see me come to borrow money, but his name was on the list of borrowers. They believed I was innocent so they had to cooperate," the 73-year-old man said on the morning of September 18.

After a few words, the "police officer" made a video call via a social media app. The screen before the old man's eyes showed four people in police uniforms, with the rank of captain. Two sat on the table, two sat on the mat. "At that time, I thought, why do the Ministry's police work in such a simple place?", he shared.

He said that over a video call, four people took turns reading his background, address, and job, making him start to believe that "these are real police officers." When he asserted that he was innocent, the group lowered their voices to soothe him and said they would help clear his name.

"I said if I committed a crime, why didn't the ward police come to my house? However, they said this was a secret project carried out by a higher-level unit, and the ward and district police were not allowed to know. They asked me to keep it absolutely secret, and if I revealed the project, I would be imprisoned for at least 16 years or killed by drug dealers," the 73-year-old herbalist recalled.

He was then forced to declare all his personal information, monthly income and asked to convert many assets into cash to transfer to the provided accounts to prove that the money was clean. "In addition to the promise to return it after the investigation was completed, they also said they would reward me with one billion VND. This made me greedy and I followed through, although I still had some doubts," the victim said.

On July 3 and 4, he said he sold the gold he had accumulated over 30 years of practicing traditional medicine and transferred it to four banks to the provided account numbers. The smallest amount was 50 million VND and the largest amount was 600 million VND. "The bank asked me the reason for the money transfer, but I said it was for my son-in-law to buy a car, as the group had told me in advance," the victim shared.

After transferring more than 1.3 billion VND, he was asked to sell his house. "When I refused to sell my house, they said they had verified that I was innocent. My money was clean and promised to return to Hai Phong at 8am on July 5 to pay the money and give the reward," the old man said.

Waiting for a long time without seeing the police return to pay the money, he called the phone number they had been talking to but could not reach them.

"I have heard about scams like this through television and newspapers, but their tricks are so sophisticated that they know personal information as well as the police. Through this, I understand that when it comes to legal matters, I should go directly to the police to ask and not trust people over the phone," the victim shared.

Authorities say that judicial agencies do not work over the phone. Even in cases where people receive summonses, indictments, or detention orders, they should not panic. According to regulations, these matters cannot be discussed over the phone but must be done directly at the headquarters of judicial agencies and at least through local authorities.

When threatened or asked to transfer money, people need to immediately notify the nearest police agency to coordinate the resolution.