Holding a ceremony to "pray for wealth and win the lottery", defrauding more than 2.5 billion VND

SGGPO 07/19/2023 18:49

When the "prey" takes the bait, this group immediately tries to approach, text and introduce themselves as being able to perform rituals to pray for wealth, peace, winning the lottery, opening the palace of fortune, offering stars to dispel bad luck... to gain trust and request money transfers for the ritual, then block all contact with the victim.

On July 19, Ha Nam Provincial Police announced that the Investigation Police Agency of Ly Nhan District Police had prosecuted and temporarily detained 8 subjects for the crime of Fraud and property appropriation.

Notably, these subjects are all very young, students of several universities in Hanoi, including: Duong Ngo Tung (21 years old), Nguyen Thi Hang (21 years old), Nguyen The Minh (19 years old), Nguyen Huu Phong (21 years old), Hoang Van Trung (21 years old), Bui Ngoc Duy (21 years old), Hoang Thi Minh Duong (19 years old), all from Tan Yen district, Bac Giang province and Tran Dinh Nam (19 years old) from Bao Thang district, Lao Cai province.

Subjects in the "Teacher The" gang

Previously, Ly Nhan District Police received a report from Ms. L. (in Hoa Hau Commune, Ly Nhan District) about a subject using a Facebook account claiming to be "Master The" to post an article about the ability to perform a ritual to ward off bad luck and pray for wealth. Through discussion, Ms. L. was advised by "Master The" to buy a "talisman" to pray for wealth and asked to transfer money to a bank account provided by the subject to hire a ritual and place an offering to keep the money. Without suspicion, Ms. L. transferred more than 300 million VND to the subject's account many times. However, after receiving the money, "Master The" did not fulfill his commitment and blocked all contact with Ms. L.

Ly Nhan District Police coordinated with the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention to verify, investigate, clarify and arrest the above 8 suspects in an apartment building in Phuong Canh Ward, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi; at the same time, seized 230 million VND in cash, 8 computers, 15 mobile phones as evidence for fraud and property appropriation.

At the police station, the group confessed to the crime. Because they needed money to spend, they discussed and agreed on a scenario; assigned tasks to each person; then created social networking sites on Facebook and Zalo under the name "Teacher The" to run advertisements and create fake Facebook accounts to make public comments to gain the trust of visitors.

When a "prey" takes the bait, this group immediately tries to approach, text and introduce themselves as being able to perform rituals to pray for wealth, peace, winning the lottery, offering prayers to ward off bad luck... to gain trust and request money transfers for the ritual, then block all contact with the victim to appropriate property.

With the above tricks, from May to June, this group defrauded and appropriated property worth more than 2.5 billion VND.

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