Hanoi man loses $416,000 in Telegram 'dating club' swindle

The Hanoi police said Monday he joined a group chat called "My nhan Love" (Beauty Love) and was instructed to send money to activate his membership.

But after apparent activation, he received a notification saying "system error" and he paid money several times amounting to over VND8 billion.

He was then unable to withdraw the money, and was instructed to seek support from the leaders of the club to help him withdraw it from the bank.

He was tricked into sending another VND910 million to "secure the money source."

He was then notified that he needed to pay compensation to withdraw 80% of the money he had sent.

At this point he realized he had been duped. He had already sent over VND10 billion by the time.

Authorities said one should only pay money when they can verify the antecedents of people they do business with, and never click on strange links.