As soon as the summer vacation started, Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Han, residing in Go Vap ward, Ho Chi Minh City, started "hunting" for tours. cheap family travel online and then got attracted by "shocking" advertisements, such as the Vinpearl Hoi An resort combo for only 900,000 VND/person. The attractive price made Ms. Han not hesitate to contact the fanpage and deposit. However, the joy was short-lived, Ms. Han quickly realized that she had fallen into the trap of a fake fanpage. "They kept urging me to deposit because the promotion was about to expire. After depositing, I asked what type of room I would be assigned to, they answered vaguely and then blocked my messages, and the fanpage also disappeared," Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Han indignantly recounted. The travel plan was gone, replaced by resentment for losing money unjustly.
Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Han is just one of many victims of cheap tour scams. Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Travel Company, said: “During the peak tourist season, online fraud tends to increase. Bad guys often take advantage of tourists' subjectivity and high demand to carry out sophisticated fraud, through forms such as unusually cheap tours, baseless visa commitments, fake airline and train tickets, virtual hotel bookings, or impersonating reputable travel companies' brands."
Type in the keywords “cheap summer tour” or “resort booking” online, and a series of results with “unimaginable” prices appear. Fraudsters are increasingly sophisticated in creating fake websites and fanpages, with interfaces similar to resorts, airlines, famous travel companies such as Vinpearl, Bamboo Airways, Vietravel ..., even with the blue check mark of social networks. These fake pages are also advertised heavily with tens of thousands of fake followers and countless compliments, creating a sense of trust to deceive tourists.
In addition, scammers often offer "dream" incentive packages with many attractive benefits such as free tickets to entertainment, meals, and resort services at very cheap prices, only a few hundred thousand to 1-2 million VND, along with hotline numbers for "consultation". In fact, these are just phone numbers for them to receive information and urge customers to transfer a deposit, usually from 30% to 50% of the total service value. The scammers will "consult" very enthusiastically, giving many reasons such as "reserve a preferential seat" or "don't miss the exclusive promotion", "the promotion is about to end" to stimulate the psychology of wanting cheap things or put pressure, causing consumers to be psychologically manipulated, hastily transferring the deposit. After receiving the customer's deposit, the scammers will block the contact account, "evaporate" without leaving a trace.
To avoid “losing money and getting hurt” from sophisticated scams during the tourist season, everyone needs to carefully research information and choose reputable travel companies or travel apps and services with clear, reputable brands to book tours, hotel rooms or airline tickets. When encountering offers of cheap travel packages, be vigilant because this is often a sign of fraud. At the same time, be cautious when travel agencies ask for a deposit to hold a seat; if possible, prioritize making direct payments. In addition, pay attention to signs of fake websites through the website name and domain name. Fake website names are often similar to real brand website names, but may be missing or have some characters added and often use strange extensions such as .cc, .xyz, .tk... Along with that, always confirm your booking information, airline ticket booking to promptly detect signs of fraud, provide information to authorities for handling and prevention.
Source: https://baolangson.vn/can-trong-truoc-bay-tour-du-lich-gia-re-5052574.html
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