The investigation agency of the provincial police decided to prosecute Lim Jian Wing of Malaysia, 27, and Wang RuiJie of China, 34, for using computer and telecommunications networks, and other electronic means to commit acts of property theft.
The arrest was made after the police received a tip-off from employees of FPT Shop in Hoi An City regarding two suspicious foreigners who were purchasing phones at the store.
At the police station, the suspects admitted that they had impersonated bank employees to call a customer residing in the northern province of Quang Ninh, asking him to provide his bank account information.
Following that, they then used his credit card to purchase two iPhone 15 Pro Maxs worth nearly VND70 million before reselling them for cash.
Expanding the investigation, the police discovered that after entering Vietnam, the two foreigners used sophisticated tricks in order to steal bank information and credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard from Vietnamese residents.
As the cards could not withdraw cash and were only used to pay for products, the suspects used the cards in order to buy high-value goods such as phones, then resold them for cash and converted them to cryptocurrency (USDT).
The police revealed that with their tricks, from June 18 to July 24 the foreigners went to several local mobile stores, including Dien May Xanh, FPT Shop, and Viettel Store in Da Nang city and Quang Nam province to buy 19 iPhone 15s, worth more than VND500 million in total.
A further investigation into the case is now underway.
