The April 30th and May 1st holidays are approaching, the demand for resorts of people is increasing, and it is also the time when cheap service traps surround users on social networks. Just because of a slight lack of vigilance in front of fan pages with thousands of followers, many tourists have had to sadly lose money right before the holiday.
Recently, a sophisticated fraud case has been recorded when subjects impersonated Aman Retreat Ninh Binh resort to appropriate property.
Trusting the professional image and large interaction on the Facebook page, a tourist named C.T (Hanoi) transferred 1,650,000 VND of room deposit to a bank account named "CONG TY TNHH TC TMDV JOW" according to the consultant's instructions.
However, immediately after the transaction is successful, the scam scenario actually begins. Instead of receiving a room booking confirmation, tourists receive a notification from the "resort" that the system is suspended due to customers incorrectly recording the transfer content or missing the sender's name.
To be supported with refunds and room confirmation, the subject requested the victim to continue to execute a similar bank transfer order.
These subjects are so sophisticated that they require customers to be friends with a personal Facebook account claiming to be "accountants" to guide refund procedures. In fact, this is a trick to manipulate psychology, causing victims to continue transferring money because they are stingy and worried.
They continuously asked me to transfer it back once again to the correct booking code to refund the old amount within 3-5 minutes. At that time, I started to suspect and continuously questioned, but was blocked, unable to contact. I searched for the page and also wrote that it was not displayed, while my friends who came to see it still saw the page interacting.
I hope that through my case, everyone can be wary of that fake Fanpage" - friend C.T angrily shared.
Aman Reatreat resort in Ninh Binh also confirmed that they do not own the fanpage or company account mentioned above. The resort has issued many warnings about being faked. Scammers have copied all images and posts of the real establishment to create trust, then run rampant advertisements to approach prey.
There have been many cases of customers being asked to transfer deposits and being appropriated money" - the official fanpage of this unit posted.
Not as lucky as C.T stopping in time, Mr. H.M (Hai Phong) lost a total of 4 million VND when booking a room at a fake villa in Da Lat.
Mr. M. shared: "They also used system error tricks and asked me to transfer money back for confirmation. Because I felt sorry for the first deposit and wanted to keep the room for my family, I transferred it a second time. When Facebook was blocked, I was shocked to learn that I had been scammed.
Similarly, Ms. Lan A. (Hanoi) also became a victim of a fake page of a resort in Phu Quoc. Although she carefully checked the personal page of the consultant, but with the trick of copying all images and posts from the real page, she was still deceived and lost 3 million VND in deposit. "They ran rampant advertising with prices about 20-30% cheaper than the market, hitting the psychology of tourists wanting to hunt for bargain deals," Ms. A. said.
To avoid losing money and getting sick, tourists need to carefully check information through the official website, absolutely do not transfer money to personal accounts or strange companies when not verified through the hotline of the accommodation establishment. Do not let virtual followers deceive you, or cheap price promises blind you when depositing money.
