Tourists were scammed into booking money through fake hotel fanpages in Mang Den during the September 2 holiday

Quang Ngai Many guests lost money during the September 2 holiday when scammers set up fake fanpages of hotels in Mang Den, approached guests, gave advice and asked to transfer money for rooms.

Mr. Bui Viet Ha, Chairman of Mang Den Tourism Association, said that tourists being scammed when booking rooms at Mang Den is not new. This situation "usually occurs on weekends and holidays, when demand for accommodation increases".

According to Mr. Ha, the trick of the fraud group is to set up many virtual social network accounts, post photos of motels, hotels, homestays and then use other phone numbers and bank accounts to trick customers into transferring money. The common feature of scam sites is to provide room prices 30-50% cheaper than the market, with incentives and favorable room locations. The subjects then joined fanpages and groups related to tourism to find people in need, proactively contact, enthusiastically advise, and send many photos to gain trust and reach customers.

A representative of Mountain Lodge Mang Den hotel said the unit recorded dozens of guests being tricked into booking rooms through the fake "Mountain Lodge Mang Den Hotel" page. The content on the hotel's website was copied exactly by bad guys. The fake pages even actively posted and had twice as many interactions and followers as the real page.

Not only Mountain Lodge, many other accommodation establishments in Mang Den also recorded guests being deceived with similar tricks. Although hotels and homestays continuously post warnings, fake sites still run advertisements, making it difficult for tourists to distinguish.

The amount of money defrauded in some cases can reach tens of millions of dong, according to a hotel in Mang Den. Many people only discovered they had been scammed when they arrived at the check-in location and contacted the accommodation facility to learn that the deposit had been transferred to a fake account.

According to the People's Committee of Mang Den commune, local authorities determined that the scammers do not live in Mang Den but operate from elsewhere. The Commune People's Committee coordinates with the police and authorities to handle the situation, while strengthening propaganda, advising tourists to be cautious and carefully verify accommodation facility information before transferring deposits.

During the 5-day National Day holiday of September 2, Mang Den attracted about 50,000 visitors to visit, relax and experience. The entire commune currently has about 170 accommodation establishments with about 1,800 rooms.

In addition to Mang Den, tourist hotspots such as Nha Trang and Da Lat also have many cases of customers being scammed when booking hotels through fake sites. Local authorities have repeatedly issued warnings to tourists when making booking transactions via social networks.