Hotel images are being counterfeited everywhere, service owners are helpless
Scams surround users
Currently, a series of fake fanpages of hotels and accommodation establishments are flooding social networks. Fraudsters use many tricks such as: creating fake fanpages, renaming old fanpages (which already have followers), running ads to increase likes, shares, fake comments and even attaching "blue ticks" to gain trust with customers.
"Ghost hotels" invest in creating videos , images, and content that surpasses real fanpages, then run preemptive advertising and seeding that flood social networks.
Just one click to search for a hotel, or even say the keyword "need to rent a hotel" into the smartphone device, immediately the user will be covered by fake services, with the fraud matrix, if not falling into this fraudulent service, then falling into another fraud trap.
After luring the customer to contact to book a room, the scammer quickly consulted, quoted a good price and asked to transfer money to hold the room because "rooms are almost full". However, immediately after receiving the money, the fanpage immediately locked the message and the user could not contact again.
Message offering attractive promotional prices from a scammer running a fanpage from Cambodia - Photo: NVCC
Mr. Tran Hai Tu ( Dong Nai ) was indignant: "The scam fanpage has a much larger number of followers than the real fanpage, making it difficult for customers to distinguish. The scam page also has a blue tick like the official channel. They offer attractive promotions, much cheaper than the real hotel price. Customers who transfer a deposit immediately will continue to receive a discount."
Ms. Phan Thi Nhai, an Australian Vietnamese (from An Giang ), was upset: "I returned home and booked a room for my whole family at a hotel in the center of Da Lat and transferred a deposit of more than 10 million VND. When I arrived to check in, the hotel informed me that it was not the hotel's fanpage. The real hotel's fanpage only had more than 34,000 followers, while the fake hotel's had 320,000."
No longer just sketchy scam messages, many "ghost" fanpages now take care of their fanpages very professionally to lure customers: constantly updating, posting regularly, using real images from famous hotels, even using fake blue tick design tools to fool viewers...
In addition, scammers also create fake invoices and transfer receipts to create trust, use bank accounts in their own names, making it difficult to trace after successful fraud.
Ms. Nguyen Thanh Ha (receptionist at a large hotel in Da Lat) was upset: "Many guests transferred deposits of tens of millions of VND to check in, but all transferred money to fraudulent accounts and fake fanpages. We also felt very sorry, and posted warnings on the main fanpage many times. But there are more fake channels than real channels, and guests cannot find the main fanpage to receive information."
Ms. Ha was upset: "I really don't know who to complain to. The problem of the digital age is that scams are rampant, real and fake are mixed together, fake channels are all over social media platforms. Scammers are more familiar with algorithms and technology than hotel staff."
"Fraudulent" bills of ghost hotels - Photo: NVCC
How to avoid being a victim?
Not only financial loss, many people also lose time and effort, affecting their travel schedule, especially during holidays, Tet or peak summer vacation.
To avoid falling into the trap of fraud when booking hotels online, people need to be more vigilant and check carefully, only book rooms through official channels: hotel websites, reputable booking platforms and do not trust the blue tick absolutely. Currently, the blue tick can be faked by images or page-building techniques.
Never transfer money in advance without clear verification. And you should call the hotel directly via the official public phone number, as well as carefully check the receiving account: avoid transferring money to a personal account that has no clear connection with the hotel.
Many opinions say that besides people's vigilance, authorities also need to take more drastic action, increase inspection and review of fake fanpages and handle them strictly.
Mr. Tran Minh Hai, a technology expert, said: "One of the characteristics to identify a fraudulent fanpage is to check the transparency of the page.
Accordingly, this feature shows the behavior of changing the fanpage name, and the page administrator position is mainly from Cambodia or some neighboring countries, where the scammer is operating the fanpage".
It can be said that in the context of technological development, online booking has become popular, convenient but also has many potential risks. Users need to be alert and carefully check all information before transferring money.
In addition, everyone should share this warning information with friends and relatives, contributing to preventing widespread fraud. When encountering signs of fraud, contact the local police agency, save evidence of transfer, message content, fanpage to serve the investigation.
Mr. Minh Hai further suggested: there should be a platform with great prestige, creating a transparent information wall. There, people have the right to evaluate all products on the e-commerce platform, thereby helping customers and buyers to verify and eliminate fake information channels.
Real, reputable businesses are always willing to publicize their services and products, and accept feedback for development. Only "problematic" businesses, with problematic products and services, do not dare to publicize, commit, or be transparent, and confuse truth and falsehood to sell poor quality goods and deceive customers...
Promote hotels, booking links, phone numbers... for free on Tuoi Tre Online
Recently, Tuoi Tre newspaper has received many messages and calls from readers expressing their frustration with the situation of fanpages scamming money for hotel bookings, and expressing their desire for a solution to protect them.
From July 14, 2025, Tuoi Tre Online officially launched a free information posting service (including hotel name, address, booking link, phone number, website, hotel fanpage...) for all hotels and accommodation booking services nationwide.
Accordingly, all hotels and accommodation services will be posted completely free of charge for the first time, with official hotel booking links from social networking platforms... with the aim of standardizing information and avoiding fraud.
When registering, business owners need to provide a legal business license, basic information about the hotel and a commitment to service quality.
All information posted will be verified and posted publicly on the "Experience and Evaluation" page of Tuoi Tre Online . Here, people will have the opportunity to experience, evaluate and choose good accommodation services.
This is also a transparent and public environment like a "service and product listing floor", where businesses dare to commit, users trust and experience, and eliminate "fraudulent links" that are widely spread on social networking platforms.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ma-tran-lua-dao-dat-phong-khach-san-tren-mxh-khach-hang-am-uc-chu-doanh-nghiep-cam-chiu-20250711163828845.htm
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