Signs of fraud that Vietnamese tourists need to know when booking tours online

Vietnamese tourists strolling on the streets of Korea on September 2nd

Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company Pham Anh Vu said that the end of the year, when the demand for family trips increases, is also the time when bad guys are more rampant. In addition to impersonating brands, bad guys also advertise cheap tours or 100% guaranteed visa services, giving away free travel vouchers. The victims are often new customers, with little experience in traveling, who are greedy for cheap prices or have unexpected incidents on the way to travel and are impatient.

Ms. Bao Han, who lives in Ho Chi Minh City, was scammed out of 4 million VND online while traveling to Beijing in June. At that time, Ms. Han lost her passport, so she posted on a travel group asking for help. A person claiming to be tour guide Bich Ngoc of the Hanoi branch of Vietravel sent a message to Ms. Han's Facebook promising to help.

Ms. Han went to this person's personal page to check, saw the profile picture was a girl wearing a Vietravel uniform as well as posting a photo of the company. She also called the hotline to ask for information and was confirmed that there was an employee with that name.

Because she was anxious to get a visa soon to return home, she agreed to transfer more than 4 million VND to a person claiming to be named Bich Ngoc. "After transferring the money, I was immediately blocked," she said. Only then did Ms. Han realize that the bad guy had used the image and name of a Vietravel employee to create a fake Facebook to trick customers. The real employee named Bich Ngoc had never worked with her.

Mr. Pham Van Bay, Deputy Director of Vietravel Hanoi Branch, confirmed that as of October 4, the company had recorded three cases of customers reporting being scammed out of money by people impersonating company employees. These people were scammed when buying tours through online groups, mistakenly thinking they were booking tours directly with Vietravel employees.

To avoid falling into the trap, Mr. Bay recommends that customers be wary of advertisements and offers of cheap tour prices, much lower than the average price, or "unbelievable" promotions. Travel companies often cannot sell tours at prices that are too low because they will incur losses.

Vietlux Tour Communications Director Tran Thi Bao Thu said that customers should choose a company with a reputable brand, one of the top companies in Vietnam. In addition to coming directly to make a contract, tourists buying tours online need to visit the company's fanpage or website. Many large companies have a blue tick fanpage, this is also a sign to help tourists avoid being scammed.

When entering the website, visitors need to check the hotline phone number. Is there consistency between the company and its representative offices? The company name will be spelled correctly on the fanpage and website. Scam sites often have similar names but with missing or extra characters. Fake domain names often use strange extensions such as .cc, .xyz, .tk.

Ms. Thu said that travel companies should regularly inform customers about brand identity, the company's official information channels as well as fanpages with blue ticks.

To be sure, when making a transaction, customers should ask the seller to show them the company's business license, international travel license, and airline agency certificate. Customers should not buy services through personal Facebook pages that do not clearly display their profiles or groups with poor quality content, few interactions, and no clear buyer protection policies.

Deputy General Director of Viet Tourism Pham Anh Vu said that tourists should be cautious with requests to transfer deposits to hold reservations. If possible, customers should make direct payments at the company's headquarters or offices, and be wary of promises to collect money at locations such as restaurants and coffee shops. If they are scammed, they should report it to the authorities.

Scammers often use unofficial phone numbers and emails, do not have a clear office address, and cannot provide invoices or red-stamped contracts.

A group of Vietnamese tourists take souvenir photos in front of the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

"If the tour sales staff refuses to provide detailed information or specific contracts, customers should stop the transaction immediately," said Mr. Bay. When there is any doubt about the authenticity of the service, customers should contact the travel agency directly through official channels or their hotline for support.

Mr. Vu shared the "standard" tour purchase process including the following steps: customers contact the hotline or come directly to the company office for consultation. After agreeing on the purchase, ask the sales staff to send an official contract with the company's signature and seal. When paying, customers only transfer money to the company's official account. The sales staff will confirm the money transfer and send detailed trip information to the customer.

According to Mr. Bay, impersonating reputable travel companies to cheat customers not only directly affects customers' wallets but also causes serious consequences for trust. These fraudulent acts also cause damage to the Vietnamese tourism industry in general and businesses in particular, reducing customers' trust in serious businesses.

According to lawyer Nguyen Van Tuy, Khoa Tin Law Company Limited - Hanoi Bar Association, individuals and organizations that impersonate other agencies and organizations and then provide false information to attract and entice tourists to transfer money are acts of fraud and property appropriation.

Nowadays, due to the higher level of education, the number of cases of being scammed is not too high. However, the scams are becoming more and more sophisticated. Therefore, people need to be more vigilant and cautious when choosing services to book tours, hotel rooms, and airline tickets on social networks.

Travel agencies especially remind tourists to absolutely not transfer money into personal accounts when purchasing tours or services.

"The first rule that customers need to remember is to only transfer money to the company's bank account because that is the only valid way," said Mr. Anh Vu.

TH (according to VnExpress)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/dau-hieu-lua-dao-khach-viet-can-biet-khi-dat-tour-tren-mang-395737.html