Luring customers to buy feng shui items after seeing fortune
Regularly going to places of worship and spiritual establishments to see fortunes at the beginning of the year, Ms. Phan Anh Tuyet (Yen Tri commune, Phu Tho province) decided to place her New Year's trust in an online fortune-telling "master" on social networks in Bac Ninh because of the remote geographical distance. After being able to see fortunes for free, she was pointed out by the "master" a series of bad stars shining on her destiny and the risks that family members may encounter in the new year. Immediately after that, this person instructed her on how to "resolve" them by buying feng shui bracelets, quartz stones and some items that are said to have the ability to dispel bad luck.
I accidentally surfed social networks and saw the "master"'s page. Reading the comments, I saw many people praising me, so I also tried it. After being advised, I agreed to buy a feng shui bracelet worth 2 million VND to resolve bad luck. Unexpectedly, after transferring money, I could not contact him again, the social network page disappeared, and the bracelet was also not received," Ms. Tuyet shared. The woman said that she had gone to see fortune at the beginning of the year many times, so she thought she had experience, but in the end she still became a victim of online scams.
In fact, after the Lunar New Year, online fortune-telling and fortune-telling content appeared densely on social networking platforms. Just by searching for keywords such as "relieve bad luck at the beginning of the year", "read fortune-telling at the beginning of the year", users can easily encounter a series of articles and videos guiding how to contact "masters" online. Many accounts also advertise selling feng shui items, fortune-telling prayers for stars, stone bracelets, spells... with the affirmation that they can help neutralize bad luck, bring fortune and peace.
Some sites also integrate "ware baskets" to sell spiritual items, accompanied by advertisements such as being "magically enlightened", "opened", "afternoon". These products are often advertised for sale at prices many times higher than their actual value.
Regularly trading ceramic products in a famous pottery village in Hanoi, Ms. Ha My (name of the character has been changed) said that the beginning of the year is the time when the demand for buying worship items and spiritual items increases. Taking advantage of this psychology, some "masters" have taken customers to see goods on the spot, even colluding with sellers to raise product prices.
According to Ms. My, ordinary items such as statues, incense bowls or feng shui items, after being said by the "master" that they have performed spells and gathered fortune, can be pushed up many times in price. Many people, because they believe in spiritual elements, are willing to spend large sums of money to buy them.
Notably, according to the affirmation of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, the offering of stars to ward off bad luck is actually a folk custom, not an official ritual of Buddhism. Many dignitaries in the Sangha once emphasized that Buddhist teachings uphold the cultivation of the mind, doing good deeds, and living towards good deeds to transform karma, rather than the concept of spending money to perform rituals to "buy" luck or resolve bad luck.
Be careful with fraud in buying and selling spiritual services
Over the past time, functional forces have recorded many online fortune-telling groups and groups established on Facebook, Zalo, TikTok with the number of participating members reaching thousands of people. In these groups, many accounts claim to be "fortune tellers", "spirit mediums", "feng shui experts", "viewing destiny, past life"... to build trust with social network users.
In many cases, images of temples, palaces, and religious establishments are also used, or videos of ceremonies are posted to increase credibility, causing viewers to mistakenly believe that this is a real spiritual activity and is organized methodically.
According to a warning from the Ministry of Public Security, the common trick of the subjects is to invite fortune-telling for free or charge very low fees to attract interested people. After creating initial trust, they will provide general information, hitting the psychology of worrying about love, work, health or family.
Next, the subjects asked viewers to transfer money to "relieve bad luck", "cut off karmic affinity", "do rituals to pray for fortune", "resolve bad luck"... with amounts ranging from a few hundred thousand VND to tens of millions of VND. In many cases, after receiving money, these accounts immediately block contact or erase traces.
The Police Agency recommends that people need to raise their vigilance against fortune-telling and bad luck dispelling activities on social networks; do not blindly believe in unverified spiritual information. In addition, people need to be cautious when participating in online groups and groups, absolutely do not transfer money to personal accounts without clearly verifying their identity. When detecting signs of suspicion of fraud, people need to promptly report to functional agencies for guidance on handling according to the provisions of law.
