Many tourists were tricked into booking resort rooms in Mui Ne.

Binh Thuan police have just issued a warning about bad guys taking real pictures of resorts and hotels, then creating fake websites and fanpages, tricking customers into transferring money into bank accounts to steal.

Many tourists who booked rooms through Facebook pages with names and pictures of resorts in Mui Ne paid or deposited 30-50%.

Local police recorded that in June, at The Cliff & Residences, Phu Hai Ward, Phan Thiet City, there were 3 cases of tourists being scammed when booking rooms online. After customers deposited 50% of the vacation value, the fake resort page sent a booking confirmation via email to the customer, then blocked the interaction. Earlier this year, The Clay Mui Ne Resort in Ham Tien Ward, Phan Thiet City also recorded that more than 80 tourists fell into the trap of this resort's fake page to defraud, appropriating hundreds of millions of VND.

The scammers have a common method of creating fake fanpages, posting real pictures of the resort, but using fake phone numbers and bank accounts to trick customers into transferring money. Only when they arrive at the resort, do customers who have booked a room realize they have been scammed.

Notably, the fake page has a bank account number that displays the name of the resort. This makes tourists who book rooms subjectively believe that it is real and transfer money to the scammers.

According to the police, scammers often set up their own hotlines, ready to provide advice when customers call; upon receiving money, they also text to confirm the booking... to gain trust.

To avoid being scammed, Binh Thuan Police advise tourists to carefully research information and choose booking services from reputable companies or through major travel apps. To be more certain, customers can ask the partner to show their business license.

Tourists also need to be wary of offers with prices that are too cheap (30-50% cheaper than the general market price), be cautious when partners ask for a deposit to hold a seat, and if possible, only make direct payments.

Online bookers should pay attention to the signs of fake websites through the website name and domain name. Usually the name of the fake website will be similar to the name of the real website but will have some characters added or missing, if you look closely you will see the abnormality.

Tourists should choose social networking sites with a blue tick (registered account) or choose reputable social networking sites where they know the seller's information clearly, and confirm the booking information to promptly detect signs of fraud.

Since the beginning of the year, tourism activities in Binh Thuan have been bustling, attracting 4.6 million visitors, up 5.01% over the same period, of which international visitors increased by 91.2%. Revenue from tourism activities reached more than VND11,800 billion, up 4.3%.

The demand for travel and vacations of the people is increasing, booking hotels and vacations online has become a popular choice, because it is convenient and fast. Therefore, bad guys have taken advantage of this to scam tourists.

Binh Thuan police warned that this type of crime will continue to increase in the coming time, with sophisticated and difficult-to-control forms of fraud. When detected, people and tourist areas need to report and provide information to the nearest police force for timely handling.