Beware of hotel booking scams during tourist season

Many people fall into the trap

According to our information, recently many customers have been scammed when booking rooms in Cua Lo online.

Accordingly, the scammers used the trick of creating many Facebook fanpages with names identical or similar to the names of famous hotels and resorts in Cua Lo.

These fanpages often post sparkling images, attractive information and "shocking price" promotions such as: 2 days 1 night combo for only 399,000 VND/person; Free breakfast buffet and entrance tickets to tourist areas; Free shuttle service at the bus station or Vinh airport...

Due to the need to book rooms for travel, especially as the tourist season is about to begin and the opening of the Cua Lo tourist season on April 19, many customers have trusted to book rooms and then "fall into the trap".

Ms. Thu, a resident in Hanoi who was recently scammed out of her deposit when booking a hotel room in Cua Lo on these fake fanpages, said: Her family wanted to go to Cua Lo for a weekend getaway, on the occasion of the opening of the tourist season, so she went online to the fanpage of Summer Cua Lo Hotel to book a room.

Because scammers have set up many fake pages of Summer Cua Lo Hotel online, Ms. Thu did not know, so she went to a page to text to book a room and was asked to transfer money to reserve the room.

After Ms. Thu transferred the money, the scammers reported that they had sent the wrong syntax code and asked her to resend the correct syntax code. Suspecting that she had been scammed, Ms. Thu asked for her money back, but the scammers immediately blocked the message.

"This fake fanpage advertised a room price of 1.4 million VND on April 19, with an additional 10% discount. Because I needed a room, and this hotel is close to Binh Minh Square - where the opening ceremony of Cua Lo Tourism Festival is held, so I could conveniently watch the fireworks, so I immediately transferred the money. But I didn't expect to be scammed in the end" - Ms. Thu said bitterly.

Not only customers from other provinces, many people in Vinh City have also fallen into the trap of scammers through the form of booking hotel rooms in Cua Lo on the fanpage. Mr. Dinh Xuan Bang, residing in Nghi Phu Ward (Vinh City), on the afternoon of April 15, was also scammed of more than 2.5 million VND with the same trick.

Mr. Bang said: Because he needed to book a room to watch the fireworks display at the opening ceremony of the Cua Lo Tourism Festival on April 19, he went on Facebook to book a room at the Summer Cua Lo Hotel. After texting, the scammer quoted the price of a room at 1,350,000 VND and a 5% discount, leaving 1,282,500 VND, plus a lunch buffet ticket. They asked him to transfer the full amount to get the room. Immediately after that, Mr. Bang transferred the room fee to the scammers.

After transferring money the first time, Mr. Bang was also informed that the syntax code was wrong and he had to transfer it again. Believing the subjects, Mr. Bang continued to transfer the money a second time. Immediately after that, the subjects blocked the communication.

In fact, there have been many cases of tourists being tricked into transferring money to book a room. Some people do not even know they have been tricked, only when they arrive at the tourist destination and are presented with a fake invoice that has been cleverly designed by the scammers do they realize.

Need to raise vigilance

It can be seen that the form of fraud in cyberspace is no longer a new thing. The fake fanpages, fake websites with interfaces identical to famous resorts and hotels have also appeared in recent years.

However, the fact that these fake fanpages run ads and create fake likes to make many people mistakenly think that these are reputable pages (ie with thorough investment) is considered by many to be sophisticated.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Ky - manager of Summer Cua Lo Hotel said: Summer Cua Lo Hotel only has one fanpage, but in reality on Facebook social network, scammers have created many fake fanpages.

The trick of these scammers is that after customers visit fake fan pages and send messages to book a room, they will create a fake booking code, with hotel information, booking information, and bank account numbers similar to those of real hotels. Then, they will ask customers to transfer a deposit of 10% to 50% to "hold the place".

However, after receiving the deposit, the scammers continue to lure their "prey" into the second round of fraud by pretending to be hotel receptionists, calling customers to inform them that the content syntax was incorrect and did not match the system's command code.

They require customers to transfer the entire room fee before they can receive their booked room upon arrival.

With the mentality that the travel date has come but there is no room yet, plus the deposit has been transferred, many people will transfer the entire room fee to avoid wasting time and falling into a trap.

If anyone has any questions, they will text that they will have an accountant contact them to refund the money, then they will lure the customer into the third round of fraud.

Fraudsters will impersonate hotel accountants to contact customers and then text a link or code for customers to enter their account number or ID card... If customers are not alert and continue to log in to those links, their accounts will be taken over and all the money in their bank accounts will be withdrawn.

After completing the scam steps, these fanpages immediately block the user's account or stop working, making the victim unable to contact them and completely lose the money they sent.

Mr. Ky also said that Summer Cua Lo Hotel has witnessed many groups of guests arriving and presenting fake money transfer receipts only to realize they have been scammed. A group of guests from Laos was even scammed out of more than 50 million VND in deposits in this way.

According to hotel service businesses, although they know the fanpage is fake, it is very difficult to prevent it, because if they block this page, the scammers will create another page, and when the real page posts images or content, they will repost the exact same thing.

Therefore, to avoid being scammed, customers need to carefully consider information, such as checking the phone number (hotels often register landline numbers as hotline numbers); checking the time the fanpage was created (fake pages are often newly created); asking staff to make a video call via Zalo; can request confirmation via email; customers can book rooms through reputable platforms; absolutely do not click on login links or provide information about bank account numbers, citizen identification numbers...

Regarding this issue, in 2024, the Nghe An Department of Tourism (now the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism) issued a warning document about fraudulent behavior in tourism service business activities. Specifically, on July 9, 2024, the Department of Tourism issued Document No. 856/SDL-TTR to competent authorities, organizations and individuals doing tourism business about the situation of taking advantage of the peak tourist season when there is a shortage of local accommodation in Cua Lo, on social networks Zalo, Facebook, TikTok... there are subjects impersonating accommodation establishments, committing fraud to receive room deposits from tourists.

Therefore, Nghe An Department of Tourism has requested the Provincial Police to direct professional units to investigate, verify and strictly handle online fraud in tourism activities. It is recommended that organizations and individuals doing tourism business in the province in general and Cua Lo area in particular publicize their phone numbers, bank accounts, business addresses, take measures to protect themselves, and advise customers to avoid being scammed....