Legal advice

Beware of online scams near Tet

TB (according to Vietnam+) January 20, 2025 14:55

The Information Security Department has just issued a warning about scams such as exchanging fake money and buying super cheap tours online near the Lunar New Year.

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Illustration

Recently, the phenomenon of buying and selling counterfeit money on social networks such as Facebook and TikTok has become increasingly popular and is causing concern. Fraudsters often take advantage of social networks to find victims, offering invitations to buy, sell, exchange counterfeit money, and buy tours at extremely attractive prices in order to steal real money from victims.

Counterfeit money online sales boom

Just search for the phrase "counterfeit money", a series of personal accounts and groups related to activities related to "counterfeit money" will appear. The comments below are mostly sellers saying that they will send private quotes to the customer's personal account.

Sellers often leave vague information on their posts and encourage customers to message them directly for a quote. Additionally, as soon as buyers visit the seller’s personal page, they immediately receive a private message introducing their counterfeit money sales service.

Articles and advertising clips selling counterfeit money in many different denominations, for example, 1 million VND can buy 10 million VND, there is an account selling 1 million VND for 14 million VND without having to deposit in advance and can check the goods.

In particular, the larger the quantity ordered, the more favorable the conversion rate will be. Payment does not require a deposit in advance; customers receive goods by post, check the payment directly to the postal staff or the delivery person and check before receiving the goods. Notably, the majority of messages come from accounts of students and young people.

Article 207 of the 2015 Penal Code (amended and supplemented in 2017) stipulates that anyone who makes, stores, transports, or circulates counterfeit money shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 3 to 7 years. Committing a crime in cases where the counterfeit money has a value equivalent to VND 5,000,000 to less than VND 50,000,000 shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 5 to 12 years. Committing a crime in cases where the counterfeit money has a value equivalent to VND 50,000,000 or more shall be sentenced to imprisonment from 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment.

Anyone who prepares to commit this crime shall be subject to non-custodial reform for up to 3 years or imprisonment for 1-3 years. The offender may also be fined from 10,000,000 VND to 100,000,000 VND or have part or all of his/her property confiscated. Therefore, people should absolutely not participate in the buying and selling of counterfeit money.

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Many groups buying and selling counterfeit money are appearing on Facebook (Screenshot)

Regarding the need to exchange new money for lucky money, a representative of the Information Security Department (Ministry of Information and Communications) recommends that people choose reputable establishments to conduct transactions. Do not participate in currency transactions of unknown origin on social networks or through unofficial platforms.

Before making any transaction, carefully verify the identity of the partner, the origin of the transaction, as well as related information. Do not believe in promises that are too good to be true. Use official transaction channels and have legal documents. Be wary of requests to transfer money in advance. In case of becoming a victim of a scam, people need to immediately report to the police for timely support and resolution.

Travel scams "rise" thanks to extended Tet holiday

In addition, the situation of fraud through promotional tours during the Lunar New Year is also complicated. The Lunar New Year holiday lasts 9 days, so the demand for package tours and self-sufficient services such as air tickets, hotels, etc. also increases.

However, in addition to a series of incentive programs, promotions, and discounts on holidays and Tet launched by many tourism businesses to attract customers, the market has also seen many scams with increasingly sophisticated tricks, especially on online platforms.

Recently, a victim of the above trick, Ms. Trinh Thuong (District 12, Ho Chi Minh City) said that when she saw on social networks an advertisement for a 3-day, 2-night Quy Nhon tour for only 1.5 million VND, much cheaper than the travel companies she had researched.

Wanting to save money, she immediately contacted the phone number on the post. The consultant was very enthusiastic, instructed her to transfer 100% in advance to reserve a seat, and promised to give her a free buffet voucher.

After transferring 3 million VND to reserve 2 seats, the subject promised to send detailed information via email. However, she waited for a long time without seeing any results. When she called back, she could not contact the subject, and his social media account also disappeared.

Accordingly, the subjects created a series of groups and Fanpages on social networking sites such as Facebook, posting information about Tet tours with "super promotional" and "super bargain" prices...

These posts often include eye-catching images, attractive itineraries, and promises of “reputation and quality.” To gain trust, scammers use fake comments from virtual accounts praising the service or boasting about their participation and satisfaction. In addition, scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in impersonating reputable travel companies or creating “ghost” companies that do not exist.

Fraudsters use social media, text messages or calls from unknown sources to post and sell Tet tours at unusually low prices. These tricks often come with a request to pay the full cost or a large sum of money before providing the service, but without a clear contract or transparent information about the organizing unit.

Experts from the Information Security Department recommend that people should be vigilant against advertising posts from unknown accounts about tours with super cheap prices compared to the market. Verify information from official sources, do not trust unclear announcements or information channels.

Do not give out personal information, bank account information or passwords to anyone. Do not follow strange links; do not download applications of unknown origin or follow instructions from strangers.

In case of suspicion of being scammed, people need to immediately report to the authorities or consumer protection organizations for timely support, resolution and prevention.

TB (according to Vietnam+)
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Beware of online scams near Tet