Warning about fraud of tourists' deposits

According to statistics from Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, in October 2024, the total number of visitors served by tourist accommodation establishments reached 600,000, an increase of 33.3% over the same period in 2023. Of which, international visitors reached 350,000, an increase of 66.7% over the same period; domestic visitors reached 250,000, an increase of 4.2% over the same period. Total revenue from tourists reached VND 3,230.5 billion, an increase of 104.6% over the same period.

In the first 10 months of 2024, Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism reached 9.5 million arrivals, an increase of 55.3% over the same period in 2023.

In the first 10 months of 2024, the total number of visitors served by tourist accommodation establishments reached 9.5 million, an increase of 55.3% over the same period in 2023 (exceeding the plan by 6%). Total revenue from tourists is estimated at VND 47,002.1 billion, an increase of 63% over the same period (exceeding the plan by 17.2%).

Of which, international visitors are estimated at more than 3.8 million, up 134% over the same period (exceeding 29.7% of the plan); domestic visitors are estimated at 5.6 million, up 26.1% over the same period (reaching 94.3% of the plan).

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh - Director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Tourism, in recent times, local authorities and businesses have joined hands to implement many events, programs, plans... to develop tourism in a sustainable direction. In just 9 months of 2024, the tourism industry reached the finish line early and by the end of October 2024, the targets set for 2024 had been far exceeded.

“In addition to the joint efforts of the locality and the whole industry, through the reflection of tourists, there are currently a number of subjects pretending to be consultants about hotel rooms and other services in Khanh Hoa province. The scam method is to regularly post on social networking groups, consulting and supporting room booking. After that, this group continuously urges customers to transfer room deposits, then gives a number of reasons to ask customers to transfer more money, when achieving the goal, they block calls and messages” - Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh informed.

According to the Director of Khanh Hoa Department of Tourism, currently some bad guys often choose famous 4-5 star hotels and resorts in Khanh Hoa, located in prime locations, near Tran Phu coastal road, Nha Trang city) to create fake pages on social networks and run advertisements intensively, confusing customers and defrauding them of their room booking fees.

Some fake pages often use hotel posts and change the phone number at the end, asking customers to book rooms through fanpages or only asking for a 50% deposit to create credibility. During the process of approaching customers, they enthusiastically advise and urge customers to transfer money. After the customer transfers, these people do not provide the service as agreed, only when the customer checks that their name is not in the system do they realize they have been scammed. The scammers then do not answer the phone or block communication.

“These are systematic tricks and behaviors that have occurred many times with many different organizations and individuals. These subjects have committed fraudulent acts, taking advantage of trust with the purpose of appropriating money from different individuals. The Department of Tourism has received feedback from 15 accommodation establishments that have had fake fanpages set up by bad guys, including famous hotels and resorts such as: Vinpearl Luxury Nha Trang, InterContinental Nha Trang, Havana Nha Trang, Masova Nha Trang, Grand Gosia, Ana Mandara Cam Ranh…” – Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh informed.

Khanh Hoa recorded 15 accommodation establishments having fake fanpages set up by bad guys.

In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of tourists and prevent further incidents that affect the image of Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa tourism, the Department of Tourism has issued an urgent dispatch to inform relevant agencies, units and businesses in the province to raise vigilance against fraudulent methods and tricks of bad guys.

At the same time, the Department of Tourism requires that when detecting fake fanpages, businesses must report in writing to the Department of Information and Communications to promptly prevent them according to legal regulations. In addition, tourism businesses must provide information about the official fanpages of the units widely on mass media so that people know and contact them.

"To prevent the situation of fake hotel fanpages appropriating deposits from guests in Nha Trang, in addition to promoting propaganda and vigilance as mentioned above, in a recent working session, the Department of Tourism requested the Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa Tourism Association to coordinate with the Provincial Police and the Department of Information and Communications to organize a conference to propagate and combat fraud in information safety and network security in the tourism business sector for tourism businesses in the province" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Le Thanh said.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/khanh-hoa-canh-bao-tinh-trang-lua-dao-chiem-doat-tien-coc-cua-du-khach.html