Beware of "traps" during tourist season

Despite carefully checking the "blue tick", information from advertising pages and interactions in posts, many people still fall into the trap of scammers when they need to buy airline tickets, buy tours or book hotel rooms...

Police recommend that people who need to book hotels or tours should carefully check the information. Illustrative photo

"Blue tick" is also... fake

Entering the 2025 summer tourist season, people's demand for searching for airline tickets, booking tours, booking hotel and resort rooms has increased. Taking advantage of this time, scammers have used many sophisticated tricks, impersonating travel agencies or tourist areas and hotels to appropriate property, causing serious financial damage and loss to people's trust.

In early July, on the occasion of his child's summer vacation, Mr. Thanh Nhat (Quang Phu ward, Da Nang city) planned to take his family on a trip to Quy Nhon (Gia Lai). Following reviews of accommodations, Mr. Nhat found a satisfactory hotel to book a room. However, when typing the hotel's name to search for a fanpage to contact, Mr. Nhat discovered that there were... 5 fanpages with the same name, address, pictures, and related information.

“I was almost scammed when I texted a fan page with a “blue tick” bearing the name of the hotel I wanted to book. This account posted many pictures identical to the hotel’s official website. However, I decided to call the resort’s phone number directly to verify and was informed that the phone number and deposit transfer information provided by the fan page were fake. Luckily, I hadn’t transferred the money yet, otherwise I would have lost everything,” said Mr. Nhat.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Le, representative of Han Giang Tourism Service Company Limited (headquartered in Cam Le ward) shared that there are many cases of impersonating travel companies to sell airline tickets, book tours, and book hotel rooms during peak tourist seasons to commit fraud.

“Taking advantage of customers' fear of room shortages and high prices during the tourist season, scammers will approach them by using fake pages, running advertisements, and posting information widely on social networking platforms.

After approaching people in need, the subjects use images from the real address to lure, urge, and ask customers to transfer deposits to appropriate. Everyone should be vigilant, can book through reputable travel companies with clear addresses," said Ms. Le.

Be careful, check from multiple sources

According to a representative of the Department of Cyber ​​Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention of Da Nang City Police, scammers often hire services to issue blue ticks on Facebook or buy Facebook accounts that already have blue ticks, then change their names to reputable tourist areas, hotels, resorts or travel agencies.

These accounts are used to run ads and post information about booking airline tickets and hotel rooms, creating trust with users. They also offer attractive travel programs with more preferential prices than official establishments, along with information about abundant ticket and room funds to avoid suspicion. Many Facebook pages even copy all the official content of real establishments, making it difficult for people to identify.

After attracting attention, the subjects ask people to transfer money in advance as a deposit, provide fake booking codes and continue to request payment of the full amount. When the victims discover or suspect fraud, these accounts are often locked or deleted, making it difficult to trace.

Colonel Nguyen Thanh Long - Deputy Director of Da Nang City Police informed that people need to be extremely vigilant when booking rooms or buying travel combos online. First, it is necessary to carefully check information from social media accounts advertising services, including Facebook, TikTok or official websites of businesses and accommodation establishments. Most fake accounts are newly established, have recently changed their names or have only posted advertisements for a short time. People can easily identify these signs and absolutely do not transact with suspicious accounts.

“In addition, to ensure safety, people should contact directly via the official phone numbers of airlines, hotels, and resorts to verify the booking code or evaluate the reputation of the agent before making payment. In case of unfortunate events of being scammed and having their property appropriated on the internet, people should quickly report to the nearest police agency for timely support,” Colonel Nguyen Thanh Long advised.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/can-trong-bay-lua-mua-du-lich-3265389.html