On December 19, the People's Procuracy of Region 1 (Quang Tri province) announced that it had approved the decision to prosecute and temporarily detain Lu Pham Thien Thang (born 2001, residing in Phu Hung village, Phu Rieng commune, Dong Nai province) to investigate the act of "Fraudulent appropriation of property".
According to the initial investigation results, around June 2025, grasping the psychology of people looking to buy cheap construction steel online, Thang created a personal Facebook page called "Construction Steel Distribution Company", posting advertising information for selling steel and steel, with contact phone number.
On June 23, 2025, Mr. Truong Ngoc Anh (born in 1988, residing in Lam Trach village 6, Phong Nha commune, Quang Tri province) accessed the above Facebook page to ask to buy steel. After that, Thang used a phone SIM card without registering the owner to create a virtual Zalo account named "Tran Trung Dat", using the representative photo of another person to text to discuss, agree on the quantity and price with Mr. Anh.
After the agreement was reached, Thang went to the Facebook page of Thuan Hoang Construction and Trading Company Limited, ordering the steel and steel number as discussed with the victim. To create trust, Thang transferred 3 million VND in deposit to the company through a bank account that was not the buyer's on the network, requesting the business to transport goods to the agreed location.
When he learned that the iron and steel truck had arrived and that the victim had witnessed it, Thang continued to text Mr. Anh to request him to transfer the full amount of 66,943,000 VND before the company agreed to unload the goods. Trusting him, Anh did as requested.
Immediately after receiving the money, Thang immediately locked his Zalo account, blocking all communication with the victim and Thuan Hoang Company. The money appropriated in the "virtual" account was quickly transferred to many other intermediary accounts for personal use, and the subject threw away communication means to avoid being traced.
Receiving the report, the Investigation Police Agency of Quang Tri Province Police coordinated with the People's Procuracy of Region 1 to quickly summon Thang, collect evidence, and clarify all fraud tricks.
The case is currently being further investigated and handled according to the provisions of law.
