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Cell phone user cheated in bogus promotional program
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A man in Nghe An Province was cheated out of VND25 million (US$1,200) by an unknown man who informed the victim that he had won a grand promotional prize worth $8,600 from a telecom firm.


Police in Nghe An Province are investigating a case in which a local man was cheated of VND25 million (US$1,200) by a swindler who falsely told the man that he had won a big promotional prize from a telecom firm.

Ha Phi Hoc, head of the Huoi Mong Village, Dong Van Commune, Que Phong District, reported to police that on February 15 he received a call from the number 01666934533, in which a strange man informed Hoc that he had won a grand prize in a sale promotional program from military-run telecom firm Viettel.

Under the program, the organizing board had identified the winners through a random selection based on a computerized program using subscribers’ phone numbers.

The unknown man said Hoc had won a SH scooter worth VND110 million ($5,230) plus VND70 million in cash.

The swindler then asked Hoc to pay a total VND25 million in expenses for taking the prize, by purchasing cell phone recharging cards worth the same and then using the cards to recharge the phone bearing the said number.

The expenses included VND2 million for the vehicle registration fee and transport cost, VND2 million for the Fund for the Poor, VND4 million for TV broadcasting fee, VND5 million for prize procedures, VND2 million for video shooting, VND3 million in travel fees for the organizing board’s staff, and VND5 million as gifts for the board, Hoc said.

“I borrowed money from my acquaintances and then made the payment as instructed by the unknown man. But I later found out that I had been cheated…” he told police.

A similar case occurred in the province late last month, when Lo Thi Huong, of Bac Son Commune, Quy Hop District, received a phone call from the number 01648044..., in which the caller informed her that she had won a iPhone prize worth VND18 million ($865) from a sale promotional program by Viettel, VnExpress newswire reported.

The caller asked Huong pay expenses for taking the prize by recharging the phone bearing the said number with a recharging card worth VND500,000. After Huong recharged the phone, she dialed the phone number many time but nobody answered.