Warning of scams using the trick of… booking a restaurant party
According to information from people with experience in managing and operating food service businesses at some restaurants, the scammers act very methodically, using multiple phones, Zalo, changing information and profile pictures when suspected, playing many different roles to... book parties and make deposits.
Recently in Nha Trang City and Ninh Hoa Town (Khanh Hoa), a scam called “letting shrimps go, catching prawns” has appeared by using the trick of… booking a party, making a deposit, then enthusiastically instructing the restaurant owner to buy wine to treat guests according to the phone number specified by the scammer with the aim of appropriating the money.
According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Th, manager of NSQ restaurant (in Ngoc Hiep ward, Nha Trang city), on February 4, Zalo Minh Quan account added her as a friend to book a party for 30 guests on February 5. After the two sides agreed on the price and menu, Zalo Minh Quan specified a type of wine to request the restaurant to provide at the party, and at the same time transferred 1 million VND deposit to the restaurant.
The party order was finalized but NSQ restaurant contacted many places but still could not find the wine that the customer requested, so they had to renegotiate. Immediately, Minh Quan sent Ms. Th the phone number of the place that sells the requested wine. Ms. Th contacted and received a quote for 6 bottles of wine for 10 million VND, the seller asked to transfer the full amount and send staff to deliver the wine.
At the same time, Zalo Minh Quan urged Ms. Th to buy the exact wine she ordered, and at the same time asked the restaurant to pay in advance to the wine seller and then include it in the party bill. When Ms. Th refused to pay in advance to the wine seller, Zalo Minh Quan sent Ms. Th a photo of the information that the money for the wine had been transferred to the NSQ restaurant's account. However, Ms. Th still carefully waited for a message from the bank informing her that the 10 million VND from the party booking customer had been transferred, but she did not see it. On February 5, no guests came to the NSQ restaurant to attend the party, but the person who booked the party called to curse and threaten Ms. Th, and at the same time blocked Zalo contact and deleted Ms. Th's friend.
Similarly, Ms. Tran Thi Yen Nh, owner of KV restaurant (in Ngoc Hiep ward, Nha Trang city) was also booked a party by a customer using Zalo to carry out a scam like the one performed with the female manager of NSQ restaurant. When the scam failed, this customer called to curse and threaten Ms. Nh.
Meanwhile, in Ninh Hoa town, Ms. HQ - the owner of a goat meat restaurant fell into a scam on February 6. Because she was gullible because she had received a deposit of 1 million VND, the restaurant staff transferred 9.1 million VND to buy wine into the account designated by the scammer. After waiting for a long time without seeing the recipient or seller deliver the wine as promised, Ms. Q contacted the scammer but the phone was always off, the Zalo account of the person who booked the party also blocked contact, deleted Ms. Q's friend, and by the time the party started, no guests had come.
According to information from people with experience in managing and operating food service businesses at some restaurants, the scammers act very methodically, using many phones, zalo, changing information, avatars when suspected, playing many different roles to... book parties, deposit with the aim of luring "prey" into traps, they even use technology to "design" information images of successful money transfers to buy alcohol...
