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As the 2025 summer tourist season approaches, bringing with it a surge of visitors to Binh Thuan, the provincial police have issued numerous warnings about a persistent and potentially widespread problem: fraud and embezzlement, cleverly disguised under the guise of fake websites and fan pages impersonating legitimate tourism businesses in the area. This situation not only causes significant financial losses for tourists but also sows discontent and anxiety, eroding trust in the safety and reputation of Binh Thuan as a tourist destination.
Given the increasing sophistication of fraudulent schemes, which have led to unfortunate consequences for both locals and tourists, the Binh Thuan Provincial Police are issuing a notice to the people of Binh Thuan in particular, and the people of the whole country in general, to protect themselves during the upcoming holiday. Specifically, the following fraudulent methods have been detected.
As the peak tourist season approaches, the Binh Thuan police are warning about fraudulent activities involving the creation of fake websites and fan pages impersonating legitimate businesses.
Taking advantage of this situation, scammers use the tactic of creating fake websites and fan pages with interfaces that are very difficult to distinguish from the official fan pages of well-known hotels/villas, resorts, and homestays in provinces and cities nationwide in general, and in districts, towns, and cities in Binh Thuan province in particular. These fake pages often copy images and use posts from hotels to build credibility and sell tours at attractive prices, while also running advertisements to mislead customers. During the approach, the scammers enthusiastically advise and entice customers, then forge photos of receipts and booking confirmations and urge customers to transfer deposit money. After receiving the money, the scammers immediately block communication and erase all traces. To prevent and limit the activities of scammers using the tactic of creating fake websites and fan pages, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan province issues a warning.
The Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan Province has issued important warnings for tourists to enhance vigilance and prevent the risk of fraud when booking tourism services online. Before deciding to book hotel rooms, villas, homestays, or tour services through websites and fan pages on the internet, tourists need to pay special attention to thoroughly researching information about the service provider. It is crucial to assess the reliability and authenticity of the website or fan page. Tourists should check the transparency of the published information, the history of the page's creation and operation, as well as the operating area of the page administrator to gain a comprehensive understanding and make an informed decision.
These fake pages often copy images and use posts from reputable hotels to sell attractive tour packages, while also running misleading advertisements to deceive customers.
To ensure safety and avoid risks, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan Province recommends that tourists prioritize choosing reputable travel and tourism service providers or use reliable websites and applications for booking hotels, villas, and homestays such as Agoda.com, Booking.com, Travoloka, etc. Another safe option is to look for verified fan pages with a blue checkmark, indicating credibility and prior verification. Knowing the seller's information is also an important factor that helps tourists feel more secure when making transactions and can be contacted when necessary.
In particular, the Binh Thuan Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism also warned tourists to be extremely cautious of websites advertising unusually discounted hotel rooms, especially during holidays. Offers for tour packages at prices 30% to 50% cheaper than the general market price often carry a high risk of fraud. Tourists need to be vigilant and should not hastily believe in overly attractive offers without thoroughly checking the information and reliability of the service provider.
For tourism service businesses such as hotels, villas, and homestays, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Binh Thuan Province strongly recommends regularly using Google search to proactively review and check for the existence of fake websites or fan pages impersonating their establishments. This helps businesses promptly detect and warn tourists, while also providing detailed information about impersonation cases to competent authorities.
Upon detecting any website or fanpage showing signs of impersonation, tourism service businesses, hotels, villas, and homestays should quickly gather all relevant information such as the link, contact phone number, and bank account number used in the impersonation and send it to the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department of the Binh Thuan Provincial Police for investigation and handling in accordance with the law.
Tourism businesses need to develop unique identifying features for their websites and fan pages.
Furthermore, strengthening the security of information, images, and administrator accounts for the official websites and fan pages of the establishments is extremely important. Establishments should also develop distinctive and unique identifying features for their websites and fan pages to help visitors easily distinguish them and avoid confusion with fake pages.
To assist citizens in proactively identifying and avoiding fraudulent websites, the Department of Administrative Management of Social Order (C06) of the Ministry of Public Security has updated the search instructions on the website built by the National Cybersecurity Monitoring Center (NCSC) with the domain name tinnhiemmang.vn.
This information is also updated in the news section of the VneID app, providing a new and convenient solution for users. To look up information about websites with malicious links, users can follow these simple steps:
Step 1, access the addresshttps://tinnhiemmang.vn/website-lua-daoStep 2: In the provided search bar, users simply enter the domain name they want to check and then click the "Search" button. Step 3: The system will display a list of domains that have been identified as malicious or showing signs of phishing. Users can use these results to check and proactively avoid the corresponding domains.
In similar situations, citizens should promptly report and inform the nearest police station for assistance, advice, and guidance on resolving the issue. Alternatively, citizens can report information through the complaint reporting function on the VneID app or directly through the police to receive advice, support, and coordination with relevant agencies in handling the case.
