Hunting for cheap tours, paying dearly

Many people become victims when hunting for cheap tours on social networks. Photo: TUONG VI

It is not difficult to see advertisements for cheap tours flooding social networks, accompanied by sparkling images and attractive commitments, causing many people to "pay" without any doubt. However, behind the scenes are sophisticated scams. Ms. PTHN, residing in My Thuan commune, said that her company gave her nearly 5 days off for the upcoming New Year, so she decided to travel to Da Lat with her friends.

Ms. N saw in a travel group on Facebook that an account posted an introduction to a 3-day, 2-night Da Lat tour, priced at only 1.2 million VND/person, almost half the price of other travel companies. Looking at the comments section full of compliments, and with tour photos, bus tickets, and a full itinerary, she contacted the phone number listed in the post.

“A person named Nguyen, a freelance tour guide, said he had a close relationship with the travel agency so he got a preferential price. After agreeing on the time and locations of the trip, I transferred a 50% deposit to Nguyen. My group had 3 people so I transferred a total of 1.8 million VND. Nguyen promised to send me a preferential voucher the next morning. The next evening, Nguyen still did not contact me. I checked and found that the account was locked and the phone number could no longer be contacted,” said Ms. N.

Mr. PTH, residing in My Hoa Hung commune, also encountered a similar situation when booking a 4-day, 3-night Thailand tour through a TikTok account for only 4.5 million VND/person. This account has many followers and regularly updates tourist destinations, so Mr. H trusted and contacted. “The consultant named Trang clearly presented the business license and contract, so I agreed to transfer the deposit to 4 people in my family. About 3 days before the departure date, the company still called to confirm the schedule and guide me to prepare the documents. However, on the morning of departure, there was no car to pick me up, I called but it was “out of coverage area”, the TikTok page also disappeared,” Mr. H was upset. After investigating, Mr. H learned that the “license” he was advised was fake; the images and videos were also copied from another travel company.

Ms. PTHG, residing in Vinh Tuy commune, was also a victim of this trick. Ms. G said that in early October, she saw a post about transferring a cheap 3-day, 2-night Phu Quoc tour. Due to an unexpected busy schedule, she could not go. This account said that she had booked the tour at a reputable company and now just wanted to transfer it to someone in need at a price nearly half off. She thought it was a good deal so she quickly contacted them. They read her the full booking confirmation invoice number so she was completely reassured and transferred more than 3 million VND. "On the day of departure, I contacted the travel agency and was informed that no customer information matched. At that time, I realized I had been scammed. When I looked for the seller, all accounts were blocked," said Ms. G.

Similarly, Mr. DHP, residing in Son Kien commune, was also scammed of more than 3.5 million VND because he bought a tour that needed to be "urgently transferred" on social networks. According to Mr. P, on the occasion of the September 2 holiday, he planned to go to Phu Quoc with his friends, so he went to travel groups to Phu Quoc to find out. He saw a post about a Phu Quoc tour being transferred by a strange account. Seeing that the tour price was only 3.5 million VND/person, with a picture of a round-trip train ticket and a detailed itinerary, he immediately deposited 3.5 million VND to reserve a spot. Just a few days later, the seller's account disappeared and the phone number was blocked. "I contacted the travel agency in the picture and they confirmed that the tour was not real. Everything was just a composite image, only then did I know I had been scammed," said Mr. P.

In addition to the above scams, bad guys also set up fake websites and fanpages of reputable agencies, along with a series of attractive promotions to appeal to tourists' psychology of liking luxurious but cheap travel. Therefore, to have a perfect vacation, tourists need to be smart to avoid becoming prey to sophisticated scams.

WALL VI

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/san-tour-re-tra-gia-dat-a466654.html