On July 3, N, a client residing in Yen Minh district in Ha Giang, went to LPBank Yen Minh to withdraw a deposit in a state of anxiety. Realizing the client’s state of mind, the director of the transaction office asked N about the reason behind the withdrawal. N stammered badly and said she needed money for her son.

The director then tried to delay the transaction while he asked his staff to clarify the case. N’s son is also a client of the bank so was invited to the bank to provide information.

N then said that some days ago a stranger called her husband and said he was a policeman in Da Nang City.  He said the Da Nang police had discovered that her husband was involved in a drug trafficking ring, and asked her to transfer money to an account given to her. The money would be used to "clarify the case".

On July 3, the person made another call, saying that the information about N coincided with information about the drug trafficker who had been arrested, and once again told her to withdraw deposits from banks to transfer to the bank account to help police verify the facts.

N decided not to withdraw money and transfer to the scammer after bank officers explained to her that it was a scam.

A similar case occurred on June 21. D.V.T in Bac Me district in Ha Giang went to LPBank Bac Me and said he wanted to withdraw deposits. The bank officer suspected something and sought help from the district police.

T said that a "policeman" in Da Nang City called him and said he was a link in a drug trafficking case in Da Nang, so he had to transfer money to accelerate the investigation in the case.

The scammer told T to stay in a hotel alone for two hours. When the afternoon working hours began, he told T to go to the bank to withdraw money and transfer to the "police".

Scams like this occur in the highland area as well as in large cities.

On June 24, Ba Vi district Police joined forces with Agribank Ba Vi to prevent a scam to appropriate assets. P.T.N, 56, in Phu Son commune in Ba Vi district, received a call from a "policeman in Binh Dinh" who asked N to open a bank account and remit money, and said if refused, she would be arrested for involvement in a drug trafficking ring.

Tuan Nguyen