After purchasing personal data of 5,000 individuals, Thach and his accomplices posed as bank employees, offering fake zero-interest loans and defrauding victims of nearly $175,000.

On February 26, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court opened the first-instance trial against Nguyen Hong Thach (32), Hoang Anh Tuan (30), and Tran Danh Quan (27), all residing in Binh Tan District, for “fraudulent appropriation of property.”

Sophisticated scam operation

According to the indictment, in June 2022, Thach came across reports about scammers impersonating bank employees to deceive people into taking fraudulent loans. Inspired by these tactics, he decided to set up his own operation.

He went online and purchased personal data - including names, addresses, and phone numbers - of 5,000 individuals at a cost of $0.12 per person.

By July 2022, Thach enlisted his brother-in-law, Hoang Anh Tuan, to rent a house on Tran Quang Qua Street (Tan Phu District), equipping it with electronic devices and recruiting staff to pose as bank employees.

Thach used Facebook to post job listings for “collaborators” with Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank. By September 26, 2022, he had recruited 80 employees. He then hired Tuan and Quan to manage and oversee the fraudulent loan consultation activities.

Each day, Thach distributed customer information to Tuan and Quan, who then assigned it to employees responsible for calling potential victims. They offered “loans” ranging from $800 to $4,000 at a supposed zero-interest rate, with borrowers only required to pay an “insurance fee” of $70 to $155, depending on the loan amount.

To make the scam appear legitimate, Thach’s team instructed victims to provide personal information and identification documents for loan processing. Once the documents were submitted, employees would send fake contracts and bank cards via courier. They also arranged for delivery workers to collect the “insurance fee” in cash on their behalf.

Building false trust

To gain victims' confidence, Thach directed his employees to include small gifts such as cheap wallets and sunglasses with the fake loan documents. This deceptive strategy convinced victims to pay the insurance fee upon receiving their packages.

To withdraw the collected funds, Thach used fake identification documents to claim the money from the courier service before disappearing.

On September 26, 2022, Tan Phu District police conducted an administrative inspection at the rented house and uncovered the fraudulent scheme.

Over 2,000 victims targeted

Investigations revealed that 2,169 people had applied for loans through the scam, with 2,151 victims actually paying the fraudulent insurance fees. Thach and his accomplices stole a total of nearly $175,000 from their victims.

Despite public notices seeking additional victims, authorities have only been able to verify the identities of 676 individuals. So far, they have taken testimonies from 462 victims, confirming a total loss of over $44,500.

During the trial, Thach admitted to the charges but claimed financial hardship drove him to commit fraud.

Thanh Phuong