The two suspects both reside in HCM City. — Photos courtesy of Quảng Trị police

QUẢNG TRỊ — Two individuals have been detained in the central province of Quảng Trị for alleged fabrication of university degrees, high school diplomas and other important documents, the province’s investigative police agency said on Friday.

According to the agency, through their monitoring activities, the province’s Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Division discovered many Facebook accounts that publicly offer to produce fake diplomas and documents.

Further investigations revealed that the operators of these accounts were Nguyễn Hữu Chí, 30, and Trần Lâm Thanh Phong, 32, both residing in HCM City.

During a search of Chí’s residence, the police confiscated several fake seals purporting to be government agencies and organisations, as well as computers, printers, blank forms and other equipment used in the production of counterfeit documents.

Fake seals and equipment used to produce counterfeit documents are confiscated from one of the suspects' residence.

During interrogation, Chí said he had been working as a Facebook advertising collaborator and directly producing various types of fake documents according to orders.

He used multiple fake Facebook accounts to post advertisements offering to forge university degrees, secondary and high school diplomas, as well as health certificates, certificates of good conduct and job applications.

After customers contacted him via messages, Chí would exchange contact details, agree on prices, collect the customers’ data, then design and print the fake documents himself.

The documents were sent to customers via courier services under someone else's name to conceal the service.

The fake university degrees and diplomas were sold for VNĐ500,000-700,000 (US$19-26.6) each, while each other fake document yielded a profit of about VNĐ200,000 ($7.6), Chí said.

He admitted to having lured Phong and several other individuals into advertising, brokering and expanding the service.

Further investigations of the case are underway. — VNS