A Vietnamese-Canadian man, Tang Ha Quoc Huy (36), along with his accomplice Pham Hai Duc (34), has been arrested in Dong Thap Province, Vietnam, for allegedly attempting to defraud a local family out of VND700 million (approximately US$27,400) under the guise of assisting with Canadian immigration procedures.
According to authorities, Huy and Duc first contacted a 40-year-old woman via social media. Struggling financially, the woman was promised help with her family’s immigration to Canada. Trusting Huy due to his Canadian citizenship, she transferred VND350 million to cover initial costs. However, when they later presented a photograph of a counterfeit passport and requested an additional VND350 million, her suspicions grew. She realized the passport had been issued without her presence, leading her to report the scam to local authorities.
Police arrested the pair while they were accepting the second payment. During interrogation, Huy admitted to being a Canadian citizen but revealed he had been living in Vietnam without a job for four years. He confessed that he and Duc devised the fraudulent scheme as a means to solve his financial problems.
The investigation is still ongoing, with both Huy and Duc facing serious legal consequences for their roles in the scam.
