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Vietnamese single women say duped by 'rich foreign men' on Facebook
By Ha An, Thanh Nien News
HANOI - Thursday, May 07, 2015 10:26
A forged receipt for the delivery of a consignment sent to a Vietnamese woman
Police in Hanoi said they have received a number of complaints from Vietnamese women who claimed that they had been cheated out of money by foreign men on Facebook.
Colonel Le Hong Son, chief of the hi-tech crime unit, said most of the women are single and were victims of almost the same trick.
Scammers, who appeared to be foreigners, promised to send them expensive gifts. Their Vietnamese accomplices would pose as employees of delivery companies and airports, asking the victims to pay shipping fees to receive the gifts.
In these cases, to win the trust of the women, the scammers forged shipping receipts and sent them via email or Facebook.
In the latest case early this month, a woman identified as T.T.H.H., 38, of Hanoi became friend on Facebook with a man who introduced himself as Larry Smith from the US.
On April 10, Smith told H. that he would send her a batch of gifts and US$250,000 in cash.
Four days later, a Vietnamese man called her, masquerading a ground services officer at Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City and saying the consignment sent by Smith is being kept at the airport.
He asked H. to transfer VND23 million ($1,062) into a bank account he created as transport fee for the consignment.
H. accepted the request.
The next day the man called again, saying H. must transfer an additional VND84 million ($3,880) as “tax” since the consignment contained a large number of foreign currency notes.
H. became suspicious and did not follow the request. She reported the case to police.
Another woman known as P.T.D., 46, of Dak Lak Province fell prey to a man known as David Jackson from the UK.
After getting to know her on Facebook in July 2014, Jackson promised to marry D. and bring her to the UK.
On February 10, he told her he boarded a flight to Vietnam, with a lot of money. The following day, a Vietnamese woman called D. and introduced herself as an officer at Hanoi’s Noi Bai airport.
The woman claimed that Jackson had been detained for carrying a large amount of cash, and asked D. to transfer money into a bank account to settle the problem.
D. agreed and sent a total $15,500 after three phone calls.
After receiving the fourth call, she felt that something was amiss and arrived at the Noi Bai airport to check. That’s when she realized she had been a victim of a scam.
Police said they are still investigating these cases.
