On June 23, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court sentenced Pham Thi Thu Trang, 36, to life imprisonment for fraud and appropriation of property.
Authorities determined that she used fortune-telling and spiritual deception schemes to defraud 31 victims of more than VND 28 billion (approximately USD 1.1 million).
According to case files, Trang began building an online reputation as a fortune teller in 2021 through social media platforms, where she regularly posted content related to spirituality and feng shui while offering online fortune-telling services.
By 2023, facing financial difficulties and debt, she devised a plan to deceive her clients, Vietnam detective service agency.
When meeting clients, Trang often claimed that they were haunted by spirits, cursed, or facing imminent danger involving family members.
She then persuaded them to transfer money for rituals, exorcisms, and spiritual cleansing ceremonies, promising that the funds would be returned after the rituals were completed.
Believing her claims, many victims transferred money to her multiple times. In one case, a victim in Ho Chi Minh City handed over more than VND 4.6 billion for a supposed spirit-removal ritual.
Trang returned only a small portion of the money and kept the rest.
Investigators found that through similar methods, Trang defrauded a total of 31 victims and appropriated more than VND 28 billion.
The court concluded that her actions were particularly serious, caused substantial losses to numerous victims, and therefore warranted a life sentence.
Vietnam private detective agency, https://vietnamdetective.org
