Trusting an online money making app, got scammed out of billions

On June 17th, information from the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (PA05, Binh Phuoc Provincial Police) indicated that recently, dozens of cases of people falling victim to online money-making scams through applications (apps) have been recorded in the area.

Over 3.1 billion VND lost in 'movie ticket investment' via app.

Specifically, PA05 of the Binh Phuoc Provincial Police received a report from Mr. KTT (29 years old, residing in Phu Rieng District) about being scammed out of billions of VND after being invited to invest in movie tickets on an app.

According to the report, around January 2023, Mr. T. became acquainted with a Facebook account named 'Huyen Trang'. After exchanging messages for some time, 'Huyen Trang' suggested that Mr. T. invest in movie tickets on the Disney app, and Mr. T. agreed.

After downloading the Disney app and registering an account, Mr. T. tried his luck with a few hundred thousand dong and, seeing a profit, boldly invested 122.5 million dong into the account provided by 'Huyen Trang' to purchase 90 movie tickets.

At this point, the "customer service representative" enticed Mr. T. with VIP1 movie tickets promising a 10% profit and requested him to transfer over 127 million VND for investment. Believing them, Mr. T. transferred the requested amount, and then the Disney app continued to announce a VIP2 movie ticket offering a 20% profit, on the condition that he transfer an additional 652 million VND. Without suspicion, Mr. T. transferred the correct amount, only to receive a notification offering a VIP3 movie ticket with a 30% profit and a request for an additional 1.9 billion VND for processing.

A victim reported being scammed online to the PA05 Department of the Binh Phuoc Provincial Police.

After "investing" in 90 movie tickets with a total amount exceeding 2.8 billion VND, Mr. T. saw a profit and wanted to withdraw the money, but the system on the app informed him that he had to pay a 35% tax. Mr. T. then transferred another 1.3 billion VND and was asked to pay an additional 40% withdrawal fee, totaling over 2.33 billion VND. At this point, Mr. T. realized he had been scammed and filed a complaint with the police.

Losing billions of dong while looking for jobs online.

Previously, around March 2023, due to being unemployed, Ms. HTH (35 years old, residing in Dong Xoai City) searched for jobs on social media and was introduced to a data entry job by a recruitment company, which also instructed her to download the Kdata app to register.

After registering, Ms. H. was instructed to deposit money into her system account before creating orders and entering data. Ms. H. followed the instructions and tried it with a small amount, successfully withdrawing both her principal and interest to her account.

Seeing that the advice was correct, Ms. H. continued to deposit money to create increasingly larger orders, from a few million dong per order to over 300 million dong per order. When she deposited hundreds of millions of dong to create orders, the "instructors" always gave reasons such as incorrect order processing syntax, the need to pay personal income tax, and the need to create additional orders... before she could withdraw her principal and interest.

In an attempt to recover the money she had deposited, Ms. H. transferred over 1.3 billion VND to various accounts but was still unable to get it back. Realizing she had been scammed, Ms. H. reported the incident to the police.

Similarly, in February 2030, Ms. NTT (40 years old, residing in Dong Phu District) also participated in data entry with an investment of 300,000 VND, earning a 30% profit after being instructed to install the Kdata app. Having withdrawn both principal and interest totaling nearly 400,000 VND, Ms. T. continued to participate in data entry with amounts starting from 1 million VND per entry, then increasing to 500 million VND per entry.

When the total amount deposited reached over 800 million VND and she couldn't withdraw it, Ms. T. inquired, but the consultant gave various excuses such as having to pay personal income tax, incorrect deposit syntax, account inspection, etc., and continued to demand that Ms. T. transfer more money, otherwise her account would be locked and all her money would be lost. Fearing the loss of her money, Ms. T. borrowed from relatives and friends, even taking out high-interest loans to make deposits in the hope of being able to withdraw it. Only when the amount deposited reached nearly 2 billion VND did Ms. T. realize she had been scammed and reported it to the police.

Be vigilant about online money-making schemes through apps.

According to the leaders of PA05, Binh Phuoc Provincial Police, the unit has recently prevented and arrested many individuals violating the law in cyberspace. They have also regularly warned about the tactics these scammers often use to "lure victims" by exploiting people's psychology and need for employment.

When players deposit small amounts, these scammers will repay the principal and interest in full. They then continue to "lure" the victims into depositing larger sums, using various excuses to demand more money. However, the more trusting the victims become and the more money they deposit, the more they lose. In reality, the actual money the victims transferred to the scammers has been stolen, leaving only a "virtual" amount on the app.

Based on the above incidents, PA 05 urges the public to be vigilant and not trust online money-making schemes through apps.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/binh-phuoc-trot-tin-ung-dung-kiem-tien-online-bi-lua-tien-ti-185230617143238964.htm