HCMC police raid offices, arrest 86 suspects in credit card scam

Three offices in several buildings in the Tan Binh District were raided, with 86 people arrested for alleged “appropriation of property using a computer network, telecommunications network, or electronic device.”

During the raids, hundreds of computers, laptops, printers, mobile phones, cars, motorbikes and bank cards were seized by the police.

Initial investigations showed that the suspects masqueraded as bank employees in charge of issuing credit cards. They would suggest to customers that the banks have policies allowing “direct withdrawal of cash from credit cards without incurring any fees.” Customers were told that to do so they would need to take photos of both sides of their credit cards, as well as the Card Verification Value (CVV) required for transactions.

Once the perpetrators had the necessary card information, the group would transfer 75% of the cards’ value to the customers, but also take the other 25% for themselves.

The police said many people have fallen for the group’s trick but are not aware of it, as the money had actually been transferred to them.

An investigation is ongoing.