Beware of the trick of paying money in advance to be sent to work abroad.

Hundreds of people in Nghia An commune, Quang Ngai city, Quang Ngai province are

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chuc (born in 1983, residing in Pho Truong village, Nghia An commune) stated that from March to June 2023, she and her husband borrowed 100 million VND from relatives to give to Ms. T (residing in the same commune) to help them go to South Korea to work.

According to Ms. Chuc, she learned through Facebook that Ms. TTG (a fellow villager working in South Korea) was looking for people interested in working in South Korea for a period of 6 months. "After exchanging messages, G said a labor contract would cost 50 million VND, with a monthly salary of 25 million VND. Anyone interested had to pay 35 million VND upfront to G's sister, TTT, for visa processing. An additional 15 million VND would be paid upon completion of paperwork and procedures. The expected departure date was May or June 2023. Realizing that the work period was only 6 months, but with hard work and saving, after deducting expenses, the couple could earn nearly 200 million VND, Ms. Chuc's family borrowed 70 million VND and gave it to TTT along with the necessary documents to complete the procedures."

However, after paying the money and waiting a long time without receiving any notification from TTT, Ms. Chuc became worried and repeatedly sent messages and called to inquire. After many promises, in June 2023, TTT gave Ms. Chuc a piece of paper with foreign writing and urged her to pay the full amount to get the visa.

Ms. Chuc said: "The paper was all in a foreign language, so my husband and I didn't know what it was, but we saw a picture and some personal information, so we believed it was the procedure for going abroad. Therefore, we gave TTT another 30 million VND and were always ready to 'fly' to South Korea. When the deadline passed and we still hadn't been able to go, Ms. Chuc became worried and asked for clarification, only to be reassured to wait a little longer…"

Similarly, Mr. Dinh Van Chu (born in 1989) and his wife, Ms. Le Thi Be Suong (born in 1991), residing in Tan Thanh village, Nghia An commune, gave TTT 55 million VND. More than two months after the agreed deadline, they still hadn't been able to go to South Korea. Unable to contact TTT, Ms. Suong and her husband suspected they had been scammed.

Many others in the same village shared the same predicament. "Most of the men in the village go fishing, while the women stay at home doing odd jobs, making life very difficult. So when they heard the promises of the women from the TTT group, everyone believed them. Each person contributed between 35 and 50 million dong," Ms. Suong said.

After falling into the trap set by the TTT sisters, dozens of people in Nghia An commune had their dreams of going abroad for a better life shattered. They had to search for work everywhere to repay the interest and principal on their loans. They also repeatedly went to TTT's house to demand their money back, but were chased away by TTT's husband, while TTT avoided them. Not knowing what else to do, these people submitted a collective petition to the local authorities hoping that the relevant agencies would intervene and get their money back.

According to statistics as of May 13th, approximately 100 people have paid money to TTT, totaling around 4.5 billion VND.

Ms. Pham Thi Cong, Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Nghia An Commune, confirmed: At the end of August 2023, the People's Committee of the commune received a complaint from a group of people accusing Ms. TTT of defrauding them of money to go to work in South Korea. After receiving the information, the People's Committee of the commune directed the commune police to investigate and clarify the case. However, due to the large number of victims and the large amount of money involved, the case was transferred by the commune police to the Investigation Agency of the Quang Ngai Provincial Police for handling and clarification.

"Every year, the People's Committee of Nghia An commune continuously informs the people about the policy of sending workers abroad, warning them to avoid being scammed, and the commune will act as a bridge with state agencies in the work of sending people to work abroad when people need it. However, because they trusted acquaintances and relatives, many people still gave money to TTT and were then defrauded," Ms. Cong added.

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