86 fake bank employees arrested for money heist

About 100 policemen stormed three offices in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday and arrested 86 people pretending to be bank credit officers to appropriate money.

During the search, police in Tan Binh district seized 109 desktop computers, 67 laptops, printers, 118 mobile phones, two cars, 46 motorbikes, and 27 bank cards of all kinds.

Initially, the investigative agency determined that the suspects had pretended to be employees of credit card units of banks, calling to advise cardholders. Taking advantage of the fact that banks impose very high fees on credit cardholders when withdrawing cash, this group suggested customer support.

They said that "the banks have a policy to help customers spend comfortably and withdraw cash directly from credit cards without fees". To do this, the cardholder must submit a photo of both sides of their credit cards, along with their pins.

This group then used card swiping software on a sales website, sending OTP codes to cardholders. When all conditions were met, the suspects transfered 75% of credit money to customers but transferred the remaining 25% of the card credit limit elsewhere for appropriation.

The investigative agency said that there were many people who fell into this group's trap, but because they were transferred real money, they did not detect it.

The agency is further investigating the case.