On December 9, the Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (Cyber ​​Security Department) of Da Nang City Police issued a warning about online dating and prostitution scams with a new approach, targeting men who are "greedy for strange things".

Specifically, the subjects created Facebook accounts and used the names, images, and logos of restaurants, hotels, bars, and nightclubs in Da Nang to gain the victims’ trust. Then, these subjects ran Facebook ads with content such as “national call girl system”, “call girls”, “one night stands”...

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Fraudulent methods target men who are "greedy for new things". Photo: CACC

When approached, the subjects lured the victims to join Telegram groups and instructed them to access fake websites to register for accounts and use pornographic services such as: Watching unlimited real-life pornographic videos, 50% discount, bathing with guests... After successfully registering, the subjects continued to instruct the victims to deposit an additional 1 million VND to participate in the "one-night mission package".

In fact, the accounts in this group are all virtual accounts of the subjects to create trust for the victims to continue to deposit more money to do tasks in the hope of "owning" beautiful girls.

However, as the amount of money deposited increases, the subject continuously uses the excuse that the victim made a mistake and asks for more money to be deposited in order to withdraw all the money. When the victim is no longer able to deposit money, the subject quickly blocks the victim and appropriates the money the victim has deposited. Victims of this trick are often embarrassed and afraid of losing face, so they do not dare to report to the police.

According to the Cyber ​​Security Department, in early November 2023, it received a report from Mr. VN (residing in Hanoi) about being scammed using this trick with a total amount of more than 1 billion VND.

The police recommend that people be vigilant when participating in online dating applications to avoid being taken advantage of and scammed by bad guys. At the same time, they should inform their relatives and friends about the tricks of this type of crime.