placing an order worth more than 800,000 VND on the Shopee e-commerce platform, Mr. Phuc Lam (Ha Dong, Hanoi) suddenly received a "secret" gift box. The packaging has full shipping codes, order codes, and transportation information, but inside is... 6 bottles of water and many cardboard covers.
Office seats turn into 6 bottles
Reporting to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Phuc Lam said that he had booked an office turnover at Eco Gaming store on the Shopee platform at 2:59 p.m. on December 7, 2025. At the time of purchase, the CTH S05 Office of Economics model cost 740,000 VND, shipping fee 82,400 VND, total order is 828,400 VND.
At 11:42 a.m. on December 10, the delivery staff called to announce the product delivery. Because chairs are assembled and dis assembled, they are packaged in large cardboard boxes. However, this is an "un Co-inspected" item, and the recipient can only open it after payment.
"When I opened the box, I was shocked because there were only 6 bottles of water and cardboard inside when the booth on a popular e-commerce platform in Vietnam blatantly defrauded customers. I immediately contacted the store through the store contact feature on the Shopee platform, all my messages were automatically responded to by the store with product advertising content" - Mr. Lam was upset.
According to Mr. Lam, the interface displayed on the computer cannot find the function of reporting the fraud/fraud booth, while on the phone it is hidden and difficult to find. In the comments section of the product sale, the store does not allow buyers to evaluate and write complaints. Meanwhile, under that article there are many good reviews about the booth and products.
After more than 2 hours of searching, Mr. Lam was able to find the feature to contact Shopee's Customer Care Department (CSKH) to report and report the scam booth.
Receiving feedback from users, Shopee's sales department only instructed how to return the goods and suggested waiting for confirmation and handling, without informing about the suspected fraud.
Regarding the refund procedure, Mr. Lam said that the system requires users to install the Shopee Pay application, in which it is mandatory to declare by taking a photo and scanning the chip-embedded ID card information.
"This activity is a form of personal data collection, posing many potential risks to service users on the Shopee platform, which can be exploited when personal information is leaked" - Mr. Lam worried.
After Mr. Lam's reflection, the Shopee e-commerce platform sent an apology email and fully refunded the money. However, Mr. Lam's shopping account was limited and he could not place further orders.
Buying fake goods, users "torture"
Unlucky like Mr. Lam, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Van (Hai An ward, Hai Phong city) also fell into a situation of being unlucky when buying " mistaken" counterfeit goods.
Ms. Van recalled: "When receiving the goods, from the design to the packaging, they are identical to the genuine goods, even the flavor of the product is 80% the same".
"When the product was delivered, I pressed the "Received goods" box next to the "Retratation/all-ine-money" box. I'm sure it was a fake until the third time. Before I could submit a complaint, the seller was deleted by Shopee" - Ms. Van informed.
From Ms. Van's experience, many times of complaints, the e-commerce platform has switched to chatbot. Ms. Van could not contact the support staff of the Shopee platform directly, she only knew that she had used the replicated product.
"Because the value of the product was not too big, I had to throw away the product, accepting to lose about 100,000 VND" - Ms. Van warmly shared.
Management loopholes, buyers face many risks
According to lawyer Bui Dinh Ung (Hanoi Bar Association), e-commerce platforms are considered "traditional markets", in which the market management board - that is, e-commerce platforms - must be responsible for supervising trading activities.
Mr. Ung said that e-commerce platforms are a trend of the times, however, the situation of many subjects taking advantage of e-commerce platforms to sell poor quality goods or taking advantage of them to commit fraud is quite common.
The Institute cited Article 38 of Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on e-commerce as amended and supplemented by Decree 85/2021/ND-CP clearly stipulating the responsibility of e-commerce platforms when detecting or receiving feedback on fraudulent and illegal sales:
8. Take timely measures to handle when detecting or receiving feedback on illegal business behavior on e-commerce trading floors:
a) block and remove from the website information on the purchase and sale of goods and services on the list of prohibited goods and services, in industries and professions where investment and business are prohibited according to the provisions of law;
b) Remove information about goods and services that violate the law within 24 hours of receiving a request from a competent state management agency;
c) Coordinate with intellectual property entities to review and remove products that violate intellectual property rights according to the procedures published in the Operating Regulations of e-commerce trading floors;
d) Warning or refusing to provide services for a limited period or permanently to individuals, traders, and organizations with business activities that violate the law;
d) Other measures according to the operating regulations of e-commerce trading floors.
"On the contrary, if the e-commerce platform does not comply, they can be administratively fined from 30-40 million VND for individuals and organizations that are fined from 60-80 million VND according to Decree 96/2020" - Mr. Ung stated.
Users need to "self-arsengthen" to protect themselves
In order to make recommendations to users, Mr. Nguyen Binh Minh - Member of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam E-commerce Association - noted that since the new regulation on e-commerce was applied, sellers on the platform must be identified. However, users still need to proactively prevent.
"Consumers should buy at reputable stores with a clear sales history. At the same time, buyers need to check the origin of goods, documents, and products. Next, compare the reviews of previous buyers, avoid comments blocking booths" - Mr. Minh emphasized.
Notably, buyers need to save transaction evidence: opening videos, messages... during the transaction process to facilitate complaint activities.
