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Enticed by the beautiful, cheap villas, numerous tourists fell victim to the scam at Helios Villa in Vung Tau.
On July 6th, Ms. Tr. Nguyen (from Dong Nai province) excitedly went to Vung Tau city for a vacation with her friends. The group of 20 people went to the Helios Villa they had booked online, located at 209 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Ward 2, Vung Tau City. However, upon arrival, the entire group was shocked to find that there was no villa there. The area was instead a row of hotpot restaurants and cafes.
Ms. Tr. took photos and videos and sent them to the Facebook accounts used for each transaction, only to discover that they could no longer be contacted. "At that point, knowing I had been scammed, I had no choice but to rent another place to rest with my friends. The trip became unpleasant and ruined because of my gullibility and carelessness," Ms. Tr. said.
According to Ms. Tr.'s account, in late June 2022, she went online to book accommodation for a group of 20 tourists, including many young children, in Vung Tau City (Ba Ria - Vung Tau province). While browsing Facebook, Ms. Tr. accidentally came across an advertisement for a villa called Helios Villa, located at 209 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Ward 2, Vung Tau City.
"The pictures they posted looked very beautiful, spacious, and well-maintained. Because it had just opened, the villa rental price on weekdays was reduced by 50%, from 10 million VND/night to 5 million VND/night. This low price immediately caught my attention," Ms. Tr. shared with the reporter.
Ms. Tr. saw that the villa's fanpage had quite a lot of followers and interactions, so she trusted it. The fanpage's consultant even proactively sent Ms. Tr. a picture of the villa owner's citizen ID card and a certificate recognizing the accommodation as meeting 3-star standards. "I was tempted by the low price and too trusting, so I immediately transferred 2.5 million VND as a deposit," Ms. Tr. said.
Hundreds of tourists were scammed out of their deposits online for the "ghost" villa - Helios Villa.
Similarly to Ms. Tr., the 14-member family of Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Yen (Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City) is also a victim of this "haunted" villa.
"The consultants kept urging me, saying it was peak season and the number of bookings was high, and that if I delayed the deposit, I wouldn't have a room. That made me hastily transfer about 2.5 million VND to them," Ms. Yen recounted. After transferring the money, Ms. Yen felt anxious and repeatedly asked for confirmation, but the consultants kept making excuses to delay.
A few days later, Ms. Yen started reading posts about Helios Villa scamming tourists out of their deposits. "At that point, I tried to contact them, but the fan page had blocked me. Knowing I had been scammed, I felt very disappointed. Although my family's trip still went ahead, I felt disappointed because of my own gullibility, carelessness, and desire for a cheap deal," Ms. Yen said.
According to investigations, approximately 200 tourists have been scammed out of their deposits by "Helios Villa" using the aforementioned tactic. The "Helios Villa" fan page has since been deleted. After being defrauded, many victims of this "ghost villa" have formed groups on social media to share information and speak out against the scam.
On July 13th, the provincial police, the Department of Tourism inspectorate, and the Department of Information and Communications of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province held a meeting to investigate and clarify the case of hundreds of tourists being scammed out of their deposits for a "ghost villa" called Helios Villa in Vung Tau. Currently, responsible officials have contacted some of the victims of the scam to gather information. The Vung Tau City police have also launched an investigation into the matter.
Tourists fall victim to a "haunted villa" scam in Hoa Binh, using the exact same trick as Helios Villa in Vung Tau.
Just a few days after the incident at Helios Villa in Vung Tau was reported in the press, many tourists in Hanoi also simultaneously spoke out to denounce a "ghost" villa called Lucky Villa - Hoa Binh. The fraudulent tactics of Lucky Villa are exactly the same as those at Helios Villa in Vung Tau.
Sharing with a reporter, Mr. Duy Viet (Thanh Nhan, Hanoi) said: On July 13th, he accidentally read an advertisement for a villa called Lucky Villa, located in Cu Yen commune, Luong Son district, Hoa Binh province. The images of the beautiful, luxurious villa with a swimming pool and a special opening price of 50% off immediately attracted Mr. Viet.
"I saw that the villa's rental price had dropped from 15 million to 5-6 million VND, so I was tempted by the low price. As soon as I read the advertisement, I contacted them via their fan page to inquire about information and find a room to rent on July 23-24 for my group of friends and family, about 25 people," said Viet.
The fanpage consultant quickly provided Mr. Viet with information about the villa, promotional offers, villa photos, the villa owner's ID card, and a red-stamped decision recognizing the villa's classification as a tourist accommodation facility. When Mr. Viet asked for photos of the villa taken by tourists, the consultant said, "The grand opening is tomorrow (July 13th), so there are no photos yet."
Seeing that Mr. Viet was still skeptical, the consultant continued with their psychological tactics. They explained that there was a high demand for rooms, so if Mr. Viet didn't book quickly, all the rooms would be booked. The consultant also repeatedly emphasized that the 50% discount only applied to bookings made on that day (July 12th), and that the price would revert to the original price afterward.
"Seeing them quickly provide the relevant documents and the manager's contact number, I became complacent. Plus, the consultant urged me on, so I was tempted by the low price and quickly told my sister to transfer 2 million VND as a deposit to the account holder Nguyen Quoc Hung," Viet said.
On July 14th, Mr. Viet read several articles accusing Lucky Villa of being a haunted villa and scamming tourists. Upon checking, he found that the Lucky Villa fan page he had contacted had disappeared.
Similarly to Mr. Viet, Ms. HD (Hanoi) also placed a deposit of 3.5 million VND online for the villa. After a few days, Ms. D. discovered that the fan page had blocked her account, and the phone numbers they provided were all unreachable.
The glamorous image posted by the Lucky Villa fanpage is actually a picture of a villa in Bali, Indonesia.
"Haunted" villas are popping up all over tourist hotspots.
Some tourists have reported on social media about "ghost" tours and "ghost" villas in Da Lat (Lam Dong), Phan Thiet, Co To (Quang Ninh)... - popular tourist destinations in the summer of 2022.
In Quang Ninh province, the Department of Culture and Information of Co To district recorded a case where a tourist lost a deposit of up to 23 million VND when booking a tour package in Co To.
Meanwhile, in Da Lat, Mr. Le Anh Kiet, Head of the Culture and Information Department of Da Lat City (Lam Dong province), told reporters that he had received complaints from 3 or 4 people who were scammed when booking villas through the Booking Villa DALAT website in June 2022.
The modus operandi is similar: the scammers use fake 12-digit national identity cards (with real names matching the names on bank accounts) to gain the trust of customers. They then request customers to transfer money as a deposit for a villa and disappear after receiving the full amount. The scammers are also quite sophisticated, using social media platforms with high engagement (up to 40,000 page likes and 1,300 likes per post).
Previously, the Department of Culture and Information of Da Lat city also received many cases of fraud related to Hoa Mat Troi Travel Company - registered address B77 Ngo Quyen Planning Area, Ward 6, Da Lat city. The fraudsters frequently used photos from homestays and villas to trick customers into paying deposits.
Tourists should exercise caution.
June and July are peak summer tourist months. This is also the time when many scammers take advantage of tourists' gullibility to commit fraud.
Scammers often impersonate employees or collaborators of travel companies, tour operators, or hotels, then aggressively solicit customers, offering preferential prices compared to the general market rate, urging them to transfer money to book rooms or train tickets in advance, claiming it's peak season and that if they don't book quickly, all the seats will be taken.
Mr. Le Anh Kiet affirmed that he has repeatedly informed the public about cases of fraud when booking accommodations in Da Lat. The Department of Culture and Information has even published a hotline number for tourists to contact and verify the credibility of accommodation establishments. Each day, the department receives 20-30 calls from tourists. The department spends approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours verifying the information for tourists. In some cases, the Department of Culture and Information will even visit the accommodation establishment in person to conduct an inspection.
Mr. Trinh Hang, Director of the Department of Tourism of Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, said that the department had received initial information about the Helios Villa incident through media reports. "The person who scammed tourists online does not have an accommodation facility in the area, so the matter falls under the jurisdiction of the police and the Department of Information and Communications. However, we have sent inspectors from the Department of Tourism to cooperate in the investigation," Mr. Hang stated.
Regarding the decision document recognizing the tourism accommodation establishment's classification that the Helios fanpage posted, Mr. Hang affirmed that there are many signs of forgery and illegal alteration. Mr. Hang said that when looking to book accommodation in Vung Tau, tourists should check the information on the website of the Vung Tau City Smart City Operations Center to avoid similar scams.
According to Ms. Thu Phuong, director of a travel company in Hanoi, to avoid becoming a victim of scams, tourists should book services through reputable travel companies, requesting business licenses, travel agency licenses, confirmation of domestic travel agency deposit, and other legally valid supporting documents. Tourists can also book services directly with tourism service providers such as transport ships, tourist accommodation establishments, restaurants, etc., and book via the phone numbers provided on websites or the phone numbers of the business owners provided by authorities. "Tourists should limit booking services through intermediaries to avoid risks," Ms. Phuong said.
When making transactions, tourists should save information such as payment receipts, emails, and messages.
