Entering the tourist season, travel agencies increase promotion and introduction of domestic and international tours. Taking advantage of the increasing demand for tourism of the people, bad guys have carried out fraudulent acts of selling cheap tours. The method used by the subjects is mainly using Facebook and Zalo accounts to post, receive bookings for tours, airline tickets, hotel rooms... and then appropriate customers' deposits.
Seizing customer deposits
As a tourism business collaborator and airline ticket agent for many years, Ms. PTTL, Tich Son ward, Vinh Yen city has witnessed many cases related to cheap tour sales fraud.
Ms. PTTL said: “I have a friend who was once scammed out of 15.5 million VND in deposit when booking a hotel room online. Before that, I had advised Ms. NTH (the victim) on a tour in Ba Vi district. However, after looking up information online, Ms. H immediately changed her mind, not following the tour I advised but booking a room online directly because the cost was almost half the price, and she got to stay in a beautiful, luxurious villa.”
After 2 deposit transfers, Ms. NTH had 15.5 million VND stolen.
Thinking she had found a cheap tour, Ms. H “finalized” the price and transferred the deposit as requested. In addition to the room fee, the subject also asked Ms. H to pay for the cost of photography and event organization, totaling 15.5 million VND...
Seeing Ms. H boasting about booking a room at a "free" price, Ms. PTT L did not believe it, suspecting the subject of fraud, so she verified. After entering the "Villa sale group", Ms. L did not see the subject's phone number, checked the Villa provided by the subject and did not see any location details attached, the Villa name should have known immediately that this cheap tour had a problem.
Accordingly, the subject took a photo of a Villa in Hoa Binh to quote a price to Ms. H. While in reality, the price of the tour to Yen Bai tourist area, Ba Vi district was much higher than the price the subject quoted to Ms. H. When she realized she had been scammed, Ms. H called the subject but the other end of the line did not answer, then blocked the contact phone number.
Or in the tourist town of Tam Dao, there are many cases where tourists, after booking a room online, are shocked when they arrive because they cannot find the homestay or villa address because they have been scammed by a scammer. For tourists who go to the mountain late, on the weekend, the situation becomes even more tragic because it is difficult to find a place to stay. Some tourists even have to wander for hours at night to find a motel, struggling with their luggage because they have been scammed by a scammer to book a room and have their deposit taken away.
It can be seen that, besides the convenience of online tour booking services, there are also potential risks of being scammed and having your money stolen. With the mentality of wanting to go on cheap tours, many people lose their vigilance and lose their deposits after transferring money to scammers.
Booking tours and rooms online is convenient but must be done through reputable travel apps.
Beware of tours that are too cheap
Regarding tourism scams, the Ministry of Public Security has recently broken up many networks and arrested many people who scammed airline tickets and hotel rooms. According to statistics, the authorities said there are 5 tourism scams that people can easily fall into. The most common is posting articles advertising cheap tours and hotel rooms online, then asking the victim to transfer a deposit of 30-50% and then taking the money.
Some subjects use more sophisticated tricks when they fake the website/fanpage of a reputable travel company, fake photos of receipts, payment invoices and ask the victim to transfer money to pay for the tour. After the customer transfers money to pay for the travel service, the subject will block contact and erase all traces.
Websites/fanpages of reputable travel companies are often counterfeited.
Or impersonating airline ticket agents, creating websites and social networking sites with links and designs similar to those of official airlines or agents, then advertising with very attractive prices compared to the general level to attract "prey".
To avoid fraud, according to the recommendations of the authorities, people need to carefully research information when choosing travel packages, should choose tour booking services, room booking, airline ticket booking from reputable companies or through travel apps. You can even ask the partner to show you the business license, documents, and practice certificates of the travel company.
Be wary of tour packages with prices that are too cheap (30-50% cheaper); pay attention to signs of fake websites through the website name and domain name (usually the fake website name will be similar to the real website name but will have some characters added or missing).
For social networking sites that sell and promote travel packages, you should choose reputable social networking sites where you know the seller's information. Confirm your booking information and flight ticket booking to promptly detect signs of fraud and report to the police if there are any suspicious signs or behaviors...
To support tourists when coming to Vinh Phuc, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism has opened the website https://visitvinhphuc.com. This is a smart tourism application that helps tourists learn, update and look up information related to destinations, scenic spots, accommodations, restaurants, shopping places... and other utilities.
In addition, the system also integrates digital tourism maps, 360-degree virtual tours, TVCs, multilingual automatic commentary, etc. to help customers have an overview experience from many angles, supporting the search for desired destinations in Vinh Phuc more conveniently and easily.
Article and photos: Ha Tran
Source
Comment (0)