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Legal basis:
- Criminal Code 2015;
- Criminal Code amended and supplemented 2017;
- Decree 144/2021/ND-CP of the Government dated December 31, 2021 stipulating penalties for administrative violations in the field of security, social order and safety; prevention and combat of social evils; fire prevention and fighting; rescue and rescue; preventing and combating domestic violence.
The following HT Legal VN Law Firm would like to share what to do when being scammed into borrowing money through the app as follows:
1. Fraudulently lending money through the app to steal money
- Borrowing money through the app is understood as a form of borrowing money through an app (application) founded by the money lender, to be able to borrow money, the borrower must download this app on his personal phone and use identity documents such as identity card/citizen identity, household registration book to create an access account on it. With this form of loan, there are advantages that people do not need collateral but can still borrow an amount from tens of millions to hundreds of millions, relatively simple procedures and fast disbursement time, without many cumbersome papers. However, its disadvantage is that borrowing interest rates are very high and besides reputable loan apps, there are still many cases of taking advantage of trust, urgent situations as well as people's ignorance to commit fraudulent acts of asset misappropriation.
- Those who take advantage of app loans to commit fraudulent tricks to seize assets such as: Requesting payment of application fees or loan insurance; Enticing to borrow money on many apps, thereby creating many loans; Apply for a loan but do not receive the money and are still in debt;
2. What to do when being tricked into borrowing money through the app
(i) Firstly, it is necessary to collect evidence
In order to have grounds for the investigation and verification of criminal whistleblowing reports, you need to gather evidence and prove it to the authorities to be protected or reclaim property. Especially when you are scammed online, the more complete the transaction information, the more detailed and specific, the easier it will be for the authorities to resolve your whistleblower information. Evidentiary documents may include: physical evidence, testimony, text messages of the two parties during the transaction, recordings of calls, bank statements related to the money transfer, and information of the scammer such as social media accounts, etc phone numbers, bank accounts fraudulent transfers ...
(ii) Next, report to the competent State agency
After having sufficient information and evidence proving the fraud, the victim may report this fraud to the competent agency of residence (permanent or temporary residence) for resolution.
According to Article 145 of the 2015 Criminal Procedure Code, agencies and organizations responsible for receiving denunciations, reports of crimes and recommendations for prosecution include:
- Investigating agencies and procuracies receive denunciations, reports of crimes, recommendations for prosecution.
- Other agencies and organizations receiving denunciations and reports of crimes.
In order to report or request a report of a crime or a petition for prosecution to be resolved directly, report it to the district-level police investigation agency or at the district-level People's Procuracy at your or the fraudster's residence.
(iii) In addition, report to the receiving bank
After having sufficient information and evidence proving the fraud, the victim can send a request for help or a petition about the fraudulent act to the receiving bank for resolution.
According to Article 33, Circular No. 37/2016/TT-NHNN, banks are responsible for canceling and refunding payment orders at the request of clients.
(iv) In addition to reporting directly to competent agencies, victims can also report fraud through the hotline of the Public Security agency:
- Hotline of the Department of Cyber Security and High-tech Crime Prevention and Control: 069.219.4053 - Criminal Police Department;
- Hotline: 0692348560 of the Criminal Police Department – Ministry of Public Security.
(v) If a whistleblower complaint is made to the police agency, the whistleblower should prepare a dossier including:
- A police report;
- National identity card/citizen identity card of the victim (notarized copy);
- Accompanying evidence to prove (videos, photographs, audio recordings containing sources of information about the offense, etc.).
In case of direct denunciation, the whistleblower also brings his/her identity card/citizen identity card and accompanying evidence for the competent authority to receive information.
3. "Blowing" money borrowed through the app, will I go to jail?
- Borrowing money is actually a transaction of borrowing property recorded in Article 463 of the Civil Code 2015. Accordingly, the borrower must be obliged to repay the lender in accordance with the quantity, quality and interest rate of the loan (if agreed) when the payment is due.
- Therefore, whether borrowing directly or online via the app, the borrower must be obliged to pay back the borrowed amount when due.
- Therefore, the act of "bursting debt" when borrowing money online through apps is considered a violation of the law, people who commit acts of "debt outbreak" may be administratively sanctioned, put in the group of bad debts, constantly calling to urge debts or charged late payment interest (if there is an agreement)...
- In addition to being administratively sanctioned, based on the nature and seriousness of the act of debt evasion when borrowing money online, borrowers may also be examined for criminal liability for the crime of abuse of trust and misappropriation of assets as prescribed in Clause 35 Article 1 of the Law amending and supplementing the Penal Code in 2017, even the amount of misappropriation over VND 500 million can be punished with 12-20 years in prison.
- On the lender's side, the case of lending with "exorbitant" interest rates, exceeding the permissible limit or using illegal threats to collect debts will also be strictly handled.
4. Money lending scams via the app, how to be handled?
Depending on the nature and seriousness of the offense, fraudsters who lend money through the app to misappropriate money may be administratively sanctioned or criminally handled for property misappropriation fraud. Accordingly:
(i) Administrative sanctions: Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 15 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP stipulates:
"1. A fine of from VND 2,000,000 to VND 3,000,000 for one of the following acts:
...c) Using fraudulent tricks or absconding to seize property or at the time of returning assets due to loans, borrowing or renting property of another person or receiving property of another person in the form of a contract, despite conditions and ability, but deliberately failing to pay";....
(ii) Criminal punishment: Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 174 of the 2015 Penal Code on the crime of fraudulently appropriating property, it is stipulated:
"1. Any person who by fraudulent tricks takes property of another worth from VND 2,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000 or less than VND 2,000,000 but falls into one of the following cases, shall be punished with rehabilitation without detention for up to 03 years or imprisonment from 06 months to 03 years:
a/ Having been administratively sanctioned for the act of appropriating property but also violating;
b/ Having been convicted of this crime or one of the crimes specified in Articles 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175 and 290 of this Code, not yet having their convictions expunged but also violating;
c/ Causing adverse effects on security, social order and safety;
d) Property is the main means of livelihood for victims and their families."
(iii) On the other hand, the maximum penalty of this offense is from 12 years to 20 years' imprisonment or life imprisonment in case of misappropriation of property worth VND 500 million or more or taking advantage of war circumstances or emergencies to commit criminal acts.
HT LEGAL VN LAW FIRM
VP1: 37/12 Alley 602 Dien Bien Phu, Ward 22, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City (Next to Ward 22 People's Committee)
VP2: 207B Nguyen Phuc Chu, Ward 15, Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City
Email: info@htlegalvn.com Hotline: 09 6161 4040 - 09 0161 4040
