Old trick, new victims.

Many products that Ms. Vu Thi L. in Yen Lac bought during the free travel program were exorbitantly priced or lacked reliable information about their origin, brand, and price.

In mid-April, upon receiving an invitation to a free trip to Cua Lo, Nghe An , Ms. Vu Thi L. from Yen Lac eagerly prepared her luggage. However, upon boarding the bus, Ms. L and the group were informed of a change in destination because the weather in Cua Lo at that time was not suitable for swimming.

The group was taken by the tour organizers to visit a temple in Pho Noi ( Hung Yen ) and then to a restaurant with a large hall for lunch. There, since there was still plenty of time before lunch, the organizers interacted with the group while they waited.

The organizers gave a thorough introduction to the company, explained the reasons for the free trip, and presented each participant with a box of calming and detoxifying tea as a token of appreciation.

Before they could even fully enjoy the free outing, food, and gifts, the participants were introduced by the organizers to a variety of health care products for all ages that the company is collaborating with in production and distribution.

With the sweet and professional words of the sales consultants, Mrs. L and many other participants in the trip trusted them and readily opened their wallets to buy goods, thinking they were receiving a great discount for participating in the trip.

Ms. L spent over 3 million VND to buy one box of powdered milk and received an extra box as a gift, along with one box of omega-3, one box of ginseng and deer antler supplement for kidney health, one box of joint pain relief spray, one box of cordyceps extract, and one box of organic calcium.

At the end of the exchange program, the consultants skillfully persuaded most of the elderly participants to buy powdered milk, cordyceps, bird's nest, red ginseng, red pine oil, organic calcium, reishi mushroom and deer antler velvet, joint pain relief spray, and detoxifying herbal tea... at exorbitant prices. Even those who contributed a few hundred thousand dong to the company sponsoring the trip, while others spent tens of millions of dong.

When Mrs. L brought the products home, her son was shocked to discover the truth after inspecting them. The box of Nano Calcium Shark Cartilage Milk Powder, advertised by the company as worth 800,000 VND and sold as a thank-you gift during the trip for 500,000 VND, was being sold widely online at various prices: 700,000 VND, 336,000 VND, 252,000 VND, and even as low as 200,000 VND; the Omega box, advertised by the company sponsoring the trip as worth 360,000 VND, was being advertised for only a few tens of thousands of VND…

Notably, many of the remaining products, such as cordyceps, ginseng and deer antler supplements for kidney and brain health, joint pain relief sprays, red pine oil, organic calcium, etc., lack reliable information regarding origin, brand, and price.

Recently, the situation where some companies, through local associations and organizations, invite people to participate in free tours but the main purpose is to sell products of unknown origin and poor quality has recurred in some localities such as Yen Lac, Lap Thach, and Vinh Tuong…

Free travel, promotional gifts, and fabricated special offers and loyalty programs are merely disguised tactics to entice people to buy goods. These are not new tricks, but many still fall for them due to their gullibility.

It's worth noting that when companies organize free trips, they mostly target the elderly, pensioners, and middle-aged people with leisure time... This is because these groups often have health problems with multiple underlying conditions and have savings for retirement, thus enabling them to make purchases.

At the same time, this group is not tech-savvy; some don't even use smartphones, limiting their ability to search for and update information. Furthermore, many elderly people have children and grandchildren working far away, often staying home alone, leading to feelings of boredom and a desire for socializing and travel to change the scenery. Therefore, they readily agree to free outings when invited.

Previously, scammers would often rent or borrow halls in village or neighborhood cultural centers, inviting people to attend seminars to sell substandard goods before disappearing. Now, however, they have changed their methods, employing more sophisticated tactics.

In this process, through various means, they will lure people away from their local areas to another location to hold sales seminars; essentially, it's just a matter of changing the seminar venue from one place to another.

Furthermore, these kinds of disguised sales seminars, masquerading as free tourism, are often held in restaurants and hotels, making it easy for them to evade local authorities.

The consequences of buying low-quality goods at exorbitant prices are not only wasted money but can also affect people's health when using unverified, or even counterfeit, products.

As the tourist season approaches, many unscrupulous individuals will concoct various schemes to lure and entice people into participating in disguised free tour programs in order to sell substandard goods, especially by using the names of associations and organizations to solicit their services.

Therefore, authorities advise people to be vigilant and not arbitrarily participate in appreciation programs, promotions, or free travel when these activities have not been approved by state management agencies.

At the same time, if you detect any signs of fraud, you should immediately report it to the nearest authorities or consult with relatives or experts before spending money on any product, to avoid being taken advantage of.

Text and photos: Thai Quynh

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/128145/Chieu-tro-cu-nan-nhan-moi