Reported being scammed online for 30 billion VND, arrested for embezzling nearly 30 billion VND from the agency

On the morning of May 26, Colonel Huynh Bao Nguyen - Deputy Director, Head of the Investigation Police Agency of Binh Dinh Province Police - confirmed that this agency has just initiated a case, prosecuted the accused, and executed an order to temporarily detain Nguyen Thi Le Chi (35 years old, living in Quy Nhon City) to investigate the crime of "embezzlement of property".

Chi was a victim of an online fraud of 30 billion VND, but was a defendant in a case of embezzlement of assets from the agency where she worked (a bank branch).

According to the initial investigation of the police, before that, at around 2:00 p.m. on April 21, while surfing Facebook, Chi saw a marathon for children that would take place in June 2024 in Quy Nhon City, so she registered her 2 children and 1 grandchild to participate.

However, this is a scam fanpage. When Chi registered to join, the person from this fanpage contacted her and asked her to be friends on Zalo for easy communication. After following the steps that the scammer instructed and registering to buy the product, Chi was quickly refunded.

The online scammers then gave reasons such as incorrect syntax, incorrect command and asked Chi to transfer the money immediately or the previously transferred amount would be lost. Chi continued to transfer money and followed the scammers' instructions.

According to Colonel Nguyen, Chi was initially scammed out of 1 billion VND. With no money left, Chi followed the instructions of the online scam group, who showed him how to embezzle money from the agency where he was working.

Using accounting techniques, in a very short time, Chi took nearly 30 billion VND from the agency by bank transfer. Chi transferred all of this money to the fraud group.

The investigation agency also verified that the money Chi transferred to the account owner is DONG A VIET NAM SPORTS TRADING SERVICES COMPANY LIMITED, which is actually a "ghost" company.

After learning that she had been scammed online, Chi went to the police to report it. During the process of verifying the case and investigating the source of the money she had been scammed, the police discovered that Chi had embezzled the agency's assets, so they initiated a prosecution and temporarily detained her for investigation as stated above. The case of Chi being scammed is also being investigated by the police.