Several women in Quang Nam Province have been swindled VND100bn (USD4.3m) by a Nigerian man.

Nigerian man accused of swindling money from women in Quang Nam

On March 29, police in Quang Nam have detained five offenders for fraud and illegally trans-border currency transfers. One of the arrested was a 42-year-old Nigerian man known as Ezechiedo and lives in District 2, HCM City. Other accomplices were Ngo Thi Phuong Trang, Tran Phuong Toan, Do Viet Dai and Ho Thi Anh Thu.

According to the police, a 45-year-old woman accused Ho Thi Anh Thu of swindling over VND140m (USD6,000) from her and reported the case to the police on December 31 last year.

According to the victim, she was added as a friend by a man called Thomas Keller on Facebook. After chatting with each other for a long time, Keller confessed his feelings to her, saying that he was a German doctor working for the United Nations in Somalia.

Keller said he didn't want to stay in Somalia due to the war. He needed someone in Vietnam to pay his medical insurance so that he could go to Vietnam on leave. The victim transferred over VND148m so that Keller could visit her but Thomas Keller's account disappeared straight after the money was transferred.

Investigations showed that Thu was a member of a cross-border scam. Three other members are quickly found and Ezechiedo was identified as the ring leader. The police searched his house and found seven mobile phone sim cards, five bank cards, a laptop, money transfer papers from Vietnam to Nigeria that worth over USD4.3m and over USD1,600 in cash.

The police have proposed to freeze the bank accounts of Do Viet Dai, which had VND46bn (USD2m), and the account of Ho Thi Anh Thu, which had VND590m.

According to the police, many people have been tricked by dating con artists. In some cases, the victims were told that they would be given money or gifts. However, the accomplices would pretend to be the authorities and told the victims to pay fees because the shipment was too big or expensive.

Dtinews