Ogo Emeka Donal, a Nigerian, 35, at the police station in the central province of Thừa Thiên Huế. — VNA/VNS Photo

THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — Police from the central province of Thừa Thiên-Huế have arrested 11 suspects, including seven Nigerians for cheating and illegally appropriating property, worth over VNĐ120 billion (US$5.1 million), from Vietnamese citizens online.

According to the police, the suspects are Ugochukwu Samuel Nnaemeka, 24; Stanley Chidiebere Umed, 29; Nnaka Chibuzor Frankline, 36; Chimezie Ebuka Samuel, 28; Chukwugekwe Godwin Ajearo, 34; Ugochukuwu Okechukwu James, 35; Ogo Emeka Donal, 35; Ngô Hãi Nghi, 24; Vũ Ái Linh, 24; Đào Đăng Vũ, 33; and Phạm Ngọc Duy, 36.

All of them live in HCM City.

The police said a woman, who lives in Huế City, informed the police on April 2020 that a foreigner had stolen VNĐ3.9 billion (US$168,000) from her.

After receiving the report, police started to investigate and found that the woman’s money was transferred to a number of bank accounts. However, all withdrawals were made at ATMs in HCM City.

About 15 days later, the police identified Dalaxy Dave, a Nigerian currently living in Cambodia, as the ringleader of the gang.  

Dave contacted Vietnamese citizens on social media and gained their trust. He pretended to be a US soldier and asked to send valuable gifts to his Vietnamese friends or invited them to invest money in business projects in foreign countries.

Dave also ordered his accomplices in Việt Nam to illegally access Facebook accounts to purchase items online and send links asking the sellers to provide OTP codes to steal money from their bank accounts.

The suspects also pretended to be police and procuracy officers to call victims and tell them to send money to the suspects’ bank accounts.

When they successfully stole money from the victims, Dave would tell his accomplices to withdraw the money and send it to him. The accomplices would also receive an amount from the illegally appropriated cash.

The police seized 53 fake ID cards and many mobile phones used for the scam at the suspects’ homes.  

Đặng Ngọc Sơn, deputy director of the provincial Police Department, said the investigation was difficult because the suspects used sophisticated tricks to hide their crimes.

However, the local police co-operated with the Ministry of Public Security and HCM City Police Department to arrest them. — VNS