Enough real estate scams

Most recently, the Dong Nai Provincial Police successfully dismantled a fraudulent organization operating under the guise of Loc Phuc Investment Construction Business Joint Stock Company (located on Tien Giang Street, Ward 2, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City) with hundreds of participants.

Psychological manipulation!

Previously, the Dong Nai Provincial Police continuously received reports from victims in Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai accusing this company of fraudulent activities involving the creation of fictitious projects on agricultural land in Dong Nai province.

Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy Van (residing in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City) recounted that last August, she found an advertisement for a cheap house on Phan Van Tri Street (Go Vap District). When she contacted the seller, she was introduced to Phuong, an employee of Loc Phuc Company, and arranged to view the house.

On August 10th, Phuong took her to 2 Le Duan Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City to view the house documents. When Phuong explained that the house was jointly owned, she refused to buy it. Afterward, Phuong pleaded with her and took her to see land on National Highway 51, near the Nhon Trach Industrial Park in Dong Nai Province, along with several other people.

During the trip, Phuong and someone who identified himself as Nhan asked Ms. Van to act as a nominee for a customer named Tu who was coming from Da Nang to buy land, but she refused. "Phuong and Nhan repeatedly begged me to act as a nominee for Tu for only 2 million dong and said they would reimburse me after they returned to the company."

Afterward, Nhân organized a raffle for those on the bus, and I was informed that I had won an SH motorbike. However, to receive the prize, I had to pay an additional 100 million VND to complete the land purchase deposit contract as per the company's regulations.

"Because I was naive and thought that I was just acting as a nominee for someone named Tú, and that I would get my deposit back later, I gave Nhân and Phương 100 million VND in cash and signed the land transfer deposit contract No. 1108/HĐ-ĐN/2023," Ms. Vân recalled.

However, upon arrival, a man named Tú appeared and stated that he disagreed with the land purchase, claiming the deposit contract was legally invalid. Therefore, the company refused to refund Ms. Vân's deposit. "I went to Lộc Phúc Company many times to request a refund of the deposit, but they gave various excuses to delay. Each time I went, the staff drew up a report and said they would process it within 3 days, but to this day I still haven't received the 100 million VND back. Later, I heard that the company had been arrested by the police, so I reported it to the Đồng Nai Provincial Police for investigation and am awaiting the results," Ms. Vân recounted.

Also victims of Loc Phuc Company, Ms. DTTT and her husband (residents of Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) recounted how they were trapped and psychologically manipulated.

Using the same tactic of advertising cheap houses on social media, employees of Loc Phuc Company invited Ms. T. and her husband to their office in Thu Duc City (formerly District 2) to view documents and see the house. There, Ms. T. was lured into a 52-seater bus to see the house. When the bus took too long, Ms. T. asked if she was being scammed, but the employees reassured her.

When the vehicle took her to Trang Bom district, Dong Nai province, to view the project land, Ms. T. realized she had been scammed. However, those around her (company employees) reassured her, claiming she hadn't been tricked and even stating that she had already purchased the land.

Then, they asked her to transfer 100 million VND to receive a discount voucher, promising to immediately resell it to someone else for 300 million VND. Ms. T. said that although she didn't want to, "there were too many employees, they kept shouting. The two women next to me also said, 'It's okay, just do it,' so I was forced to comply."

Dong Nai Provincial Police caught Loc Phuc Company red-handed setting up a fictitious real estate trading floor in An Vien commune, Trang Bom district. Photo: NGUYEN TUAN

Civil or criminal?

Meanwhile, Ms. Bui Thi Bich Ng. (residing in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province), despite having no need to buy cheap houses or land, was still scammed out of 300 million VND.

According to the account, Ms. Ng. owned a plot of land in Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai Province, that she wanted to sell for nearly 3 billion VND. Then, a real estate agent called to inform her that a buyer from Ho Chi Minh City wanted to purchase her land. Hearing that there was a buyer, Ms. Ng. arranged to travel to Ho Chi Minh City to negotiate the sale.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the real estate agent arranged for Ms. Ng. to accompany a client to Bien Hoa to view land. Instead of traveling in a private vehicle, the agent requested that Ms. Ng. and the client share a 45-seater bus with many other people who were going to view land in Dong Nai, and since it was on the way, they offered to give Ms. Ng. a ride. On the bus, Ms. Ng. sat with the buyer, a young woman. This woman claimed to really like Ms. Ng.'s plot of land and would put down a deposit after viewing it.

Speaking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper, Ms. Ng. said she didn't understand why she felt so carsick and nauseous at the time that she was not fully conscious. Afterward, 4-5 people who introduced themselves as employees of D.TH Company on Cong Hoa Street, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City, followed her and offered her land plots in a project in Dong Nai.

While she was hesitating, she was informed that she had won 5 taels of gold from the company, but the condition was that she had to deposit 150 million VND to buy land. "Thinking that I would sell the land for nearly 3 billion VND, and have some money left over, I decided to buy more land for investment and transferred the 150 million VND deposit as instructed by the company's employee," Ms. Ng. said.

On the way home, Ms. Ng. suspected she had been scammed because the person who wanted to buy her land didn't come to see the land or pay a deposit. Instead, this person asked if she wanted to resell the land she had just bought to profit from the price difference. Ms. Ng. agreed, but the company employee demanded that she transfer 300 million VND to complete the deposit contract before she could resell it. Hearing this, Ms. Ng. transferred another 150 million VND to the employee's original account.

Upon arriving at the company, Ms. Ng. was again advised by her passenger: "You're making very little profit selling it like that. If I pay 50% now to secure the sales contract, you'll be able to sell it for a higher price. Now you can earn an extra 570 million VND, and you'll be able to sell it for 1.2 billion VND."

Upon hearing this, Ms. Ng. contacted a friend to borrow 570 million VND but was unsuccessful, so the transaction was temporarily halted. Only when she boarded the bus back to Nha Trang did Ms. Ng. realize she had been scammed. She contacted the company to demand her money back but was unsuccessful.

In another case, Mr. Pham Cong Dung (residing on Nguyen Van Luong Street, Go Vap District) stated that he is very upset because he was cheated out of 200 million VND by GS R Co., Ltd., but the police said "this is a civil contract" and therefore would not resolve the issue. According to Mr. Dung, in July, while following social media, he read information about a company selling land with title deeds in Trang Bom District, Dong Nai Province for only 470 million VND per plot, so he left his phone number with a sales representative.

When arranging to view the land, a man named Lang Hai Giap claimed the plot was priced at 470 million VND, but the other buyer didn't know the price. Upon arrival, the employee showed him the land and requested a deposit. When he said he didn't have cash, the employee instructed him to download an app to transfer the money.

"I felt like I was under a spell, half-conscious, half-dazed. When I said I didn't have cash, only money in my bank account, this employee instructed me to download the bank's app to transfer money online. After that, these people easily transferred 200 million VND from my VietinBank account to their OCB account," Mr. Dung said.

As soon as the 200 million VND transfer was completed, Giáp said he would take Mr. Dũng to the company in Ho Chi Minh City to complete the deposit procedures immediately, and would not invite him to participate in the prize draw with the group of 5-6 people in another car who were making noise in the empty field.

Upon arriving at the company's headquarters on Nguyen Sy Sach Street, Tan Binh District, Mr. Dung signed a deposit contract. However, upon returning home, he realized that the contract he signed for the land plot was for over 2 billion VND, not 470 million VND. Mr. Dung went to the company to complain and demand his money back, but was unsuccessful. He then filed a complaint with the local police station, but was told it was a civil complaint, not a criminal one, and therefore they would not process it. Meanwhile, he went to the district police station, where they received his complaint and informed him that many other people had also filed complaints against the company's director.

Criminal liability may be pursued.

Lawyer Tran Dinh Dung, from the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, believes that based on the victims' accounts, the unclear actions of the sellers could all be classified as criminal offenses. However, evidence is necessary, and obtaining it requires active support from local authorities in the areas where these companies have offices and in the localities where they bring customers. Contracts and methods used to entice customers to buy products that do not meet the required standards can be grounds for criminal prosecution.

(To be continued)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/kinh-te/du-chieu-lua-dao-bat-dong-san-20231002220535391.htm