Police in Ho Chi Minh City said on Friday that they had arrested 39-year-old Nguyen Van Tam, hailing from An Giang Province, southern Vietnam for allegedly posing as Nguyen Van Nen, secretary of the municipal Party Committee, to commit fraud and appropriate assets.

The arrest followed a report that someone had impersonated and mimicked the voice of the city’s Party leader, calling his relatives to request money and solicit investments.

The city's cybersecurity and hi-tech crime prevention unit in collaboration with its criminal police agency then probed into the case.

Shortly after that, the forces apprehended Nguyen Van Tam, the suspect behind this fraudulent scheme.

Tam confessed that he had used lots of unregistered SIM cards to impersonate high-profile figures such as the city’s Party chief, Ministry of Public Security officials, and directors of lottery companies in several provinces, calling businesses, organizations, and relatives of these figures to ask for money and solicit investments.

After the victims fell into the trap and transferred the money, Tam immediately withdrew the funds and blocked their phone numbers.

So far, Tam had deceived many victims and stolen billions of Vietnamese dong. (VND1 billion = US$40,600).

Police are looking for additional victims, encouraging them to come to the city’s criminal police division at 459 Tran Hung Dao Street, Cau Kho Ward, District 1, or contact investigator Nguyen Van Nghia via the mobile phone number 0937456466 to assist in the ongoing investigation.

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