Having been a victim of this type of scam, Ms. PTN (30 years old, residing in Hoa Hoi commune, Chau Thanh district) said that about two months ago, because she intended to travel to Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh province) for 3 days and 2 nights, she went on Facebook to find a hotel to book.
After doing some research, she found a hotel with a fanpage named APHQN (abbreviated) that had 11,000 likes and 11,000 followers. The posts advertising beautiful, eye-catching hotel rooms attracted viewers, so she contacted them to book a room.
People should choose to book tours/accommodation/flight tickets from reputable and high-quality companies.
“I messaged their fanpage directly and received a quote from an employee for a 3-day, 2-night hotel room at over 3.2 million VND. They asked me to pay a 1 million VND deposit to reserve the room. Seeing that the fanpage seemed reputable, I didn't suspect anything and agreed to transfer the full 3.2 million VND for the room,” Ms. N recounted.
However, after the transfer was successful, the sender messaged Ms. N saying she had entered the booking code incorrectly in the transaction details, resulting in the hotel reservation not being completed.
The scammer asked Ms. N to transfer the money again, providing the correct transaction details so the system could confirm the booking was successful. The hotel would then assist in refunding the money she had transferred incorrectly.
The perpetrator asked Ms. N to befriend a person named TH on Facebook in order to receive a refund. This person, named H, posing as the hotel's accountant, called and instructed Ms. N to access her banking application to perform certain actions to retrieve the incorrectly transferred money.
“Suspecting it was a scam, I didn't follow the person's instructions. Immediately, the person blocked me on Facebook. Afterwards, I contacted the bank's customer service department directly, where an employee warned me about the scam and suggested I report the incident to the police. Because the amount of money scammed wasn't much, I didn't report it to the authorities but considered it a lesson learned,” Ms. N said.
Mr. MT (residing in Long Thanh Trung ward, Hoa Thanh town) said that previously, he had searched online for a cheap tour to Con Dao for his wife and himself. While browsing travel service fan pages, he noticed an advertisement for a 3-day, 2-night all-inclusive tour from Tay Ninh to Con Dao for 3 million VND per person, including airfare and a 3-star hotel.
The APHQN fanpage, with its many likes and followers, attracted Ms. PTN to book a hotel room.
"Seeing the reasonable prices and enthusiastic staff, I planned to book a tour and agreed to transfer a 50% deposit the next day. Afterward, the person repeatedly messaged me, urging me to transfer the deposit. Sensing something was amiss, I refused to book the tour, and then the person blocked my Facebook account."
"If you intend to travel, you should choose services from reputable companies or book through reputable travel apps like Traveloka, Agoda… I also hope that the authorities will take strict measures to deal with those who engage in this fraudulent behavior," Mr. T said.
In response to the increasing number of scams and property thefts in the tourism sector, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration recently sent a document to local tourism management agencies requesting them to promptly manage and prevent fake tourism websites and fanpages.
Accordingly, the Vietnam National Tourism Administration requests that relevant agencies strengthen communication with tourism service businesses and the public to raise awareness of new forms and methods of fraud in the tourism sector; conduct timely inspections and checks to detect and handle violations in accordance with the law; and promptly receive and resolve related complaints and feedback from citizens within their jurisdiction.
The Vietnam National Tourism Administration advises people to carefully research information about tourism service providers in general and accommodation establishments in particular before booking services and making payments; they should only book services on official websites and fanpages of tourism service businesses provided by local management agencies or through reputable booking platforms…
Lawyer Tran Thi Hanh from the Tay Ninh Provincial Bar Association stated that in recent times, fraud in the tourism sector, especially scams involving booking hotel rooms, airline tickets, and cheap tours online, has become increasingly complex. Despite continuous warnings from authorities about online fraud schemes, many victims still fall prey to these traps.
The perpetrators post advertisements on the internet and social media offering cheap tour packages and hotel rooms with many included amenities, then ask victims to transfer deposit money, thereby stealing the funds.
The perpetrators create fake websites/fan pages of reputable travel companies, forge photos of receipts and invoices from customers, and then ask victims to transfer payment for tour costs. After the customers pay, the perpetrators block all communication and erase all traces.
Furthermore, these scammers post advertisements for visa services, promising a high success rate and a 100% refund if the visa is not obtained. After the victim transfers payment or a portion of the fee, the scammers will have the victim fill out the application form and complete the documents themselves, then use the excuse that the victim provided incomplete information to steal their money.
According to lawyer Tran Thi Hanh, acts constituting the crime of fraud and appropriation of property will be considered for criminal prosecution as stipulated in Article 174 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017). Depending on the amount of money appropriated, different penalties may apply, with the highest penalty being life imprisonment.
For acts of using computer networks, telecommunication networks, or electronic means to misappropriate property, criminal liability will be considered as stipulated in Article 290 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017).
"To avoid being scammed, people need to carefully research information when choosing travel packages, and should choose tour/room booking services from reputable and high-quality companies or travel apps."
People should be wary of offers to buy tour packages at excessively low prices, and especially cautious when travel agencies request a deposit via bank transfer to reserve a spot. If possible, direct payment transactions should be made.
"In cases where there is suspicion of fraudulent activity involving the misappropriation of assets, people should promptly notify the police so that their case can be received and resolved," lawyer Tran Thi Hanh shared.
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Source: https://baotayninh.vn/muon-hinh-van-trang-chieu-tro-a187750.html
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