A Vietnam court has sentenced a woman to three years in jail for working with three Nigerians in a swindle targeting gullible Vietnamese women to appropriate about US$20,000 from them, local media reported.

>> Fake lawyer swindles aspiring guest workers of $150,000

The Hanoi People’s Court on Wednesday opened a hearing for Nguyen Minh Thi, 27, hailing from the southern province of Dong Nai, on charges of “using computer networks, telecommunications networks, Internet or digital devices to appropriate property” pursuant to Article 226b of the Penal Code, Radio the Voice of Vietnam reported on Wednesday. According to the indictment, during her studies in Malaysia in 2010, Thi got acquainted with two Nigerians, Oryewhere Christian Karie, 33, and Oriame Orias Ehis, 35. In August 2012, Thi returned to Vietnam after agreeing to join her foreign friends in an online scheme targeting credulous Vietnamese women to appropriate their money. Under the scam, Karie and Ehis would use false names to contact and make friends with Vietnamese women through social media. Another Nigerian, Oshanugor James Anyasi, 35, later joined this swindling gang. After building close relations with their victims, the three Nigerians informed them that they would send valuable consignments, including cellphones, jewelry, and items to Vietnam for them.  In an attempt to gain their victims’ confidence, the swindlers also referred them to a bogus express delivery website where all the details of the consignments, the consignors and consignees, and time and place of delivery were shown.  When “the date of delivery” came, the Nigerians sent the information on their victims to Thi, who then posed as an airport custom officer and contacted the victims over the phone. Thi told her “prey” to pay amounts ranging from $550 to $15,000 to take delivery of their “consignments.” She explained to the victims that such amounts included the customs duty and under-the-table money to customs officers who handled those consignments. From late 2012 to March 2013, twelve Vietnamese women followed Thi’s requests and transferred a total of over VND438 million (roughly $20,000) to an account designated by Thi, according to the An Ninh Thu Do (Capital Security) newspaper. The three Nigerians enjoyed 90 percent of the sum while the remainder belonged to Thi, according to the indictment.  Relevant Vietnamese agencies have asked Interpol to verify the swindling acts committed by the three Nigerians.

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