Cheap prices - a trick of online sales scams
Ms. Nhung (35 years old, Hanoi) often has a habit of online shopping and often hangs out at some shops on e-commerce sites, or through channels to see "branded" bags, branded shoes. At the beginning of June, on the occasion of the big sale day (June 6), she surfed the internet to hunt for her favorite affordable branded bag. Then, listening to the host on livestream introduce the price of the bag, which was much lower than expected, Ms. Nhung ordered it.
Two days later, after receiving the goods, she looked at the bag and saw that the design was satisfactory, the leather was "genuine", and there were full labels, so she paid them the rest.
“Then I realized I bought fake goods,” Ms. Nhung said. Because searching on the brand's website and contacting staff, they said that the brand's products are "rarely" discounted, even the deepest discount is only 10-15%, not up to 40%. Checking the bag again, she discovered that there was no embossed logo inside as the brand still has in all products.
Similar to Ms. Nhung's case, Mr. Viet (40 years old, Hanoi) also bought fake Nike brand shoes. The purchase of counterfeit goods by him was discovered by a colleague. The friend said that the shoes Mr. Viet is wearing are originally designed and priced at 40-50 million VND, not just a few million VND.
It's just because I believe in the introduction of smuggled and hand-carried goods that I unintentionally contribute to counterfeit goods" - Mr. Viet shared.
According to Hanoi City Police, recently, subjects producing and trading in counterfeit goods and goods infringing industrial property rights are increasingly taking advantage of cyberspace to advertise and consume products with many sophisticated tricks, causing damage to consumers and affecting the business environment.
Be vigilant and alert to "processed and smuggled goods
At the end of July, the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (Hanoi City Police) and functional forces inspected a business store on Tam Khuong street, discovering that the establishment was displaying and trading many products showing signs of infringing on the industrial property rights of famous brands including handbags, leather wallets, clutches, belts with listed prices from 2 to 10 million VND per product.
Since 2022, the subjects have rented stores, colluded with domestic leather goods production facilities, and created Facebook pages to advertise and sell products under names such as "fabricated goods", "genuine raw materials", "factory smuggled goods", introducing that the quality is equivalent to genuine goods but the price is only a small part.
The investigation results determined that the subjects illegally profited about 4.2 billion VND. From the beginning of 2026 to now, they have consumed 129 products, illegally profiting about 714 million VND.
On August 14, representatives of the Phu Tho Provincial People's Procuracy informed that they had approved the Decision to prosecute defendant Nguyen Hai Linh (33 years old) for the crime of "Infringing industrial property rights". Linh is the owner of the Kai Store business household, with 3 establishments in Vinh Yen ward, Vinh Phuc ward, Phu Tho province. 3 establishments publicly displayed 469 products of clothes, shirts, shoes, sandals, wallets, socks, hats... printed with logos and trademarks of many famous world fashion brands that have been protected in Vietnam.
Phu Tho Provincial Police recommends that business organizations and individuals strictly comply with the provisions of law on trade and intellectual property; do not import, store, or trade in counterfeit trademarks that infringe intellectual property rights.
And Hanoi City Police recommends that people need to raise their vigilance against advertising tricks "Like Auth", "fabricated goods", "factory smuggled goods", "intruding from the original factory"... These are just self-made terms to deceive consumers and legitimize the consumption of counterfeit goods. At the same time, you should not believe in "package check", "full bill, box, warranty card" advertisements, because these accessories can be completely counterfeited to create trust.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Tien - Hanoi Bar Association said that consumers need to raise their awareness of respecting the law, only buy products at official agents and distribution stores; resolutely boycott counterfeit goods and goods infringing on industrial property rights.
According to Mr. Tien, consumers, even though they know it is fake, still buy it unintentionally to assist illegal acts and they themselves have to bear the consequences if the product is harmful. More dangerously, this makes the market of real and fake mixed, difficult to control.
