Hanoi police yesterday said they had arrested two Taiwanese men posing as police officers who reportedly conned their victims out of nearly US$14,000 by requesting them to deposit money in designated bank accounts.

>> Vietnam apprehends 3 Taiwanese who used fake ATM cards in swindles>> Vietnam police hold Taiwanese for opening ATM accounts used for scams >> Vietnam arrests 4 Chinese for using fake credit cards to steal money

Chang Khai Yeu , 24, and Hsieh Ming Hsin, 31, were detained when they were using a credit card with another name to withdraw cash from an ATM on Nguyen Thi Dinh Street in Cau Giay District on Monday, said the Vietnamese capital’s high-tech crime police. Before their arrest, these foreigners temporarily resided in the Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh area in Hanoi. Police later seized from them 54 bankcards and nearly VND300 million ($14,000) believed to be appropriated from their victims. These bankcards were issued by various Vietnamese banks and the card holders were both foreigners and Vietnamese. After questioning the Taiwanese men, investigators concluded that the two foreigners belonged to a ring that posed as police officers to threaten their victims through phone calls and asked them to transfer their money into designated bank accounts for “verification.” After their victims credited money to such accounts, they used ATM cards to withdraw cash from there. The police are expanding their investigation to clarify the origin of the above bankcards and identify the victims of the two swindlers. Last month, police in Ho Chi Minh City also arrested three Taiwanese people and a Vietnamese woman for hiring others to counterfeit ATM cards for use in swindles to appropriate assets. These Taiwanese included Liu Minh Chieh, 37, Chung Ming Shih, 46, and Chen Yen Hao, 41. The arrested woman was Tran Thi Ngoc Hien, 22, who lived in Binh Chanh District.

All four have been charged with “appropriating property through swindling” under Article 239 of the Penal Code, police said.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!