Taking advantage of organizations' letters of introduction to sell functional foods to the elderly

Selling functional foods under the guise of "promoting reading culture"

For many days now, Mr. Nguyen Van Ngh. (76 years old) in Hung Phuc commune (Hung Nguyen) has been so sad that he “cannot eat or sleep” because he regrets the large amount of money he spent on functional foods. “The functional foods are still there, I don’t dare to use them because I don’t know about their quality. My children and grandchildren complain because I have been warned many times about this type of sales but I still fall for it,” Mr. Ngh. said sadly.

Mr. Ngh. said that at the end of March 2024, like other seniors, he received a notice from the Commune Elderly Association to gather at the hamlet hall to attend a "reading culture propaganda" event. Here, a group of about 5 people presented a letter of introduction from the Hung Nguyen District Elderly Association, making the elderly people trust them.

Letter of introduction with content sent to the chairmen of the elderly association of the communes and towns mentioned above, implementing the official dispatch of the Elderly Association of Nghe An province on coordination with the Center for Consulting and Support for Elderly Health Care, the Elderly Association of Hung Nguyen district agreed to coordinate with the Vietnam Association for Community Health Care Education to build the model of "Elderly Reading Club".

Accordingly, this center will support and advise on the establishment of Elderly Reading Clubs at the branches (sponsoring each club with 10 copies of the Elderly Health Magazine and 300,000 VND in cash). "During the period of funding the establishment of Elderly Reading Clubs at the grassroots level, the center will only promote reading culture, and will not sell or trade any other products," the introduction clearly stated.

Considering that this is a policy of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly, beneficial to its members, the Association of the Elderly in Hung Nguyen district also requested that its branches implement it seriously and effectively. Report to the local Party Committee and authorities, organize dissemination to cadres and elderly members, mobilize each branch to establish a reading club, thereby applying the useful knowledge conveyed in the special issue on elderly health to serve the needs of life...

“The introduction letter said that each branch would be supported with 300,000 VND, but they didn’t, they said that the money was for organization costs. They did give away a few copies of the health magazine, but they were all published last year,” Mr. Ngh. added.

After all the elderly people were present, the group began to ask and “consult on health” for the elderly. “They spoke very skillfully, as if pouring honey into the ears. Understanding the psychology of the elderly, everyone is worried about health. After a while, they began to introduce functional foods, which have very good effects. Those who want to buy can register, tomorrow someone will send them to their home,” Mr. Ngh. said, adding that after that, most of the attendees registered to buy functional foods, some bought 3 boxes, some bought 5 boxes.

Like many others, Mr. Ngh. registered to buy 5 boxes of functional foods, for 1.9 million VND. “If there is no introduction letter from the District Elderly Association, no one will buy. Because we have been fooled many times with this type of product. Previously, groups of people kept coming to hamlets and villages, but no one introduced them. They went to a house to borrow a location, and said that if they could invite an elderly person to listen to the introduction of the product, they would receive a gift. After that, they would sell functional foods. Many people believed it, bought it and used it without any effect, the quality was very poor,” Mr. Ngh. said.

Old tricks

According to the reporter’s investigation, in just the last days of March, this group of people sold a lot of products thanks to the “reading culture propaganda”. In Hung Phuc commune alone, this group of people divided into 5 groups, went to 5 halls of the hamlets to organize at the same time. After selling hundreds of boxes of functional foods, they quickly left.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Cao Dang Vinh - Chairman of the Elderly Association of Nghe An province said that the association has not received any feedback from the grassroots. "We have sent an official dispatch to the district associations. But the official dispatch also clearly stated that it is not allowed to take advantage of this to sell goods. If you discover this happening, just report it to the police to work on it," said Mr. Vinh.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Chairman of the Elderly Association of Hung Nguyen district said that this is a lesson learned for the association. “We had anticipated this, in the official dispatch sent down by the commune and town, we also said that we would not sell or do any business. In addition, I also called the leaders of each association, telling them that they would not buy anything they sold. But in the end, it still happened. We were taken advantage of again,” Mr. Thang said, adding that this incident would not happen again.

Not only the association of the elderly, many other organizations are also often exploited in a similar way. In Tuong Duong district, not long ago, many veterans were upset because they thought they were tricked into taking photos at high prices. Accordingly, they received a notice from the Veterans Association about a unit supporting photo taking, without clearly stating the cost, making many people think it was free. "After taking the photo, they sent the photo to their home and asked to pay more than 1 million VND. Meanwhile, the composite photo was very bad, if you took the photo outside, it would only cost a few hundred thousand VND. At first, they did not explain clearly, everyone thought it was free," said a veteran in Thach Giam town.

Meanwhile, the association of former teachers in many districts is being exploited under the guise of"Successful former students show gratitude to teachers",which Nghe An Newspaper has also reported many times. Accordingly, the group of people regularly contacted leaders of the former teachers' associations in the districts, claiming to be children of the area who have now become successful. Through the former teachers' associations, they invited all members to come together to "give gifts of gratitude". However, after giving low-value gifts, this group immediately introduced and sold many high-priced items to the old teachers.

Faced with that situation, the People's Committee of Nghe An province has issued a document on the matter.Strengthening State management in consumer rights protection activitiessend to relevant departments, branches and People's Committees of districts, cities and towns. The Provincial People's Committee requests the Department of Health to strengthen coordination with local authorities and functional forces to monitor functional food advertising activities at conferences and seminars in the area. Strictly handle cases of law violations. The Provincial Police are assigned to direct district and commune police to strengthen inspection, information gathering, monitoring, supervision, prevention and timely handling of organizations and individuals conducting illegal business activities, showing signs of fraud and property appropriation. Strictly handle the above cases showing signs of fraud, causing insecurity and disorder according to the provisions of law.

In particular, the Provincial People's Committee directed the commune-level authorities to notify the blocks, hamlets, and villages to absolutely not allow businesses and individuals to rent or borrow the halls of the People's Committees of wards, communes, and towns; cultural houses of blocks, hamlets, and villages; and stadiums to organize product introductions, sales, and seminars combined with sales. Sales organization of businesses, production and business units must be carried out at business locations according to regulations...