Dealing with commercial fraud in the digital age

Multiple violations

In November 2024, the Market Management Department of Hai Duong province (now the Market Management Department of Hai Duong province) handled a series of cosmetic products of unknown origin, through checking advertisements on social networks.

Through monitoring and capturing information on business activities on social networking platforms and implementing professional measures, Market Management Team No. 5 coordinated with Team 3, Department of Investigation Police on Corruption, Economic Crimes, Smuggling, and Environment (Hai Duong Provincial Police) to conduct surprise inspections of a number of households trading in cosmetics and beauty products.

During a surprise inspection of a business owned by Mr. Vu Van Thuy (Thanh Mien town), the authorities discovered 2,304 tubes of SVMI brand foundation and 11,000 eyelash curlers of unknown origin with a total value of more than 45 million VND. This household advertised the products on the personal Facebook page "Thuy Huong (Guangzhou wholesale warehouse)"; personal Zalo account named "Thuy Huong"; TikTok shop "Shop Thuy Huong". For the above violation, the business household Vu Van Thuy was administratively fined 25.5 million VND, forced to destroy all cosmetics of unknown origin and confiscated the violating products.

In July 2024, through the implementation of professional measures, monitoring sales activities on Facebook social network combined with grasping the business situation in the area, Market Management Team No. 5, Provincial Market Management Department chaired and coordinated with the police force to conduct a surprise inspection of the sandal business establishment owned by Mr. Tran Van Hieu (in Tien Dong commune, Tu Ky).

The inspection team discovered 8,500 pairs of CROCS branded sandals, worth more than VND916 million, with signs of violations. Mr. Hieu, with a personal Facebook account “CROCS Hieu Tran”, posted an article introducing and promoting the product with images of CROCS branded sandals taken from the internet. Considering the case had signs of a crime of infringing on industrial property rights, Market Management Team No. 5 transferred the entire case file, evidence, and documents to the Provincial Police Department for further investigation in accordance with the law.

According to the Market Management Department of Hai Duong province, from January 1 to December 15, 2024, the unit inspected 18 cases related to e-commerce. Of which, administrative sanctions were imposed on 17 cases, with a fine of VND 327.5 million. The total value of the violated goods was nearly VND 485 million. The main violations were trading in counterfeit goods, trading in stamps with counterfeit trademarks, trading in goods of unknown origin, etc.

Overcoming difficulties

According to the provincial Market Management Department in Hai Duong, violations of trading in counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, and violations in the cyberspace environment are becoming more complicated.

The use of social networks and express delivery services to trade in illegal goods is on the rise, causing difficulties for authorities in inspection and handling. More and more individuals and organizations are doing business online, opening stores on e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Tiki, Lazada... or selling on social networking sites such as Facebook, Zalo, TikTok...

According to Mr. Vu Minh Hai, Department of Professional Affairs - General (Market Management Department of Hai Duong province), checking, detecting and handling fraudulent e-commerce activities is more difficult than traditional business methods.

One of the important factors in the inspection and handling process is identifying the goods, while for e-commerce and social networks, it is difficult for authorities to identify the subject and warehouse because there is no fixed business location.

Product images taken and posted on e-commerce platforms or introduced in livestream sales sessions are difficult to determine if there are signs of counterfeit trademarks compared to directly checking the products at business establishments.

To overcome these difficulties, in recent times, the Provincial Market Management Department has stepped up propaganda and dissemination of legal regulations on e-commerce, on acts and tricks of smuggling, trade fraud, and counterfeit goods trading to raise awareness and sense of law compliance of organizations and individuals.

The unit reviews and classifies websites, e-commerce applications, product groups and common violations to accurately assess the current situation. The inspections and controls focus on e-commerce, not just traditional business establishments.

In order to strictly and effectively manage e-commerce business, the Provincial Market Management Department proposed to build a system to monitor and warn of risks and risks for a consistent and unified digital transformation. E-commerce is an extremely large, cross-border space, so it is necessary to promote the application of information technology, pay attention to investing in facilities, equipment and people to serve the task of fighting against commercial fraud in the field of e-commerce.

Along with that, when choosing to buy goods on e-commerce platforms, consumers need to research carefully. Do not buy fake goods, goods that infringe intellectual property rights because of cheap prices, because of the psychology of preferring foreign goods, preferring branded goods. If receiving products that are not as committed by the seller, consumers can report to the National Competition Commission (Ministry of Industry and Trade) or the Vietnam Consumer Protection Association...