Believing online advertising, the old man bought a phone at a super promotional price, who expected to encounter fake and ‘fabricated’ goods

The box and phone “Samsung Galaxy A72” were introduced as genuine products that Mr. Phuong received from an online seller.

Buy a Samsung Galaxy A72 phone into China’s “fake goods”

The story just happened to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuong (77 years old), a retired civil servant, living in Quang Ba ward, Tay Ho district, Hanoi. Sharing the story with PV Infonet, Mr. Phuong said that he watched the information and introduction about the phone “Samsung Galaxy A72” on his YouTube channel.

The seller confirmed that this phone is genuine, sold at a “super promotion” price of 1,990,000 VND (market price from 8 to 11 million VND depending on the type of device). Believing the seller, the old man thought that he was lucky to meet a genuine phone with a good price, so he did not hesitate to “close the order”.

“According to the commitment of the “warranty policy” introduced by the seller, including: 12 months genuine warranty; check goods before payment; one to one exchange in 30 days if defective from the manufacturer; Free delivery nationwide,…”, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuong recounted.

The next morning, Mr. Phuong received a phone call from the delivery man, the delivery man’s expressions made him confirm that there is a relationship between the delivery man and the seller:

“At first, the delivery man did not agree to let me check the goods. I asked to be inspected as committed and this person immediately called to ask and was agreed by the seller to let me check the goods before paying. Thus, this young delivery man knows the phone number of the phone seller, “said Phuong.

Seeing the phone box clearly stating the words “Samsung Galaxy A72” with the phone and full accessories including charger, headset…

…and warranty card, Mr. Phuong agreed to pay the money without any doubt.

After checking the goods, seeing the phone box clearly stating the words “Samsung Galaxy A72” along with the phone and full accessories including charger, headset, warranty card, Mr. Phuong agreed to pay the money without any worries. suspect. However, on the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Phuong brought the phone “Samsung Galaxy A72” and the old phone to the Mobile World store near his house to ask to transfer the sim card and contacts from the old phone. After checking, the technical staff of Mobile World confirmed to him that the “Samsung Galaxy A72” phone he bought was just a fake, “fake product” of China, not a genuine product of China. Samsung.

“They advised me not to use it because it could be unsafe, especially when using a battery charger. After receiving such information, I decided not to convert the sim to a new phone, keeping the device intact to proceed with the exchange of genuine phones, “said Mr. Phuong.

However, all attempts by Mr. Phuong to contact the phone numbers of the seller, the shipper, and the phone number listed on the warranty card were unsuccessful because the subscribers had turned off their phones.

According to his share, the seller when introducing the product provided contact information including 3 establishments, all of which are very vague and difficult to identify addresses, including: Facility 1 at 62 Dinh Cong, Hoang Mai, Hanoi; facility 2 is at house B, Nguyen Hien street, Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi; and base 3 only write in general at…. Ho Chi Minh City. All three of these establishments have the same phone number, contact 09858865…

Infonet reporter went to facility 1 at 62 Dinh Cong street, Hoang Mai district. However, this is not a phone shop, instead, the address number 62 is the entrance to an apartment building on this street. Meanwhile, the address of the second facility in Hanoi was only vaguely introduced by the seller: “House B, Nguyen Hien Street, Hai Ba Trung District”, but did not specify the room number, while this is an old dormitory.

The reporter called the salesman’s number, the switchboard automatically said “subscriber could not be contacted”.

Address 62 Dinh Cong is the entrance to an apartment building.

Buyers still have to protect themselves

Buying goods online through online platforms sometimes cannot verify the quality, so many customers fall into the situation of “crying and laughing”. There are even many cases where the seller received the deposit and then disappeared…

Recently, Ms. NMH in Thanh Xuan, Hanoi has warmed up on her personal page to report a fraudulent online clothing store. Before that, Ms. H. had surfed the social network Facebook and saw a shop selling very good clothes. The pictures and designs are very suitable for me, in addition, the shop owner is very enthusiastic about product advice. Without hesitation, Ms. H. then transferred money to buy 2 sets of clothes for free shipping.

After transferring the money, the shop owner received the money and informed that he was about to send the goods, but Ms. H. was surprised that she could not contact the other shop owner.

Or as in the case of Mr. D.QH, Hanoi, after ordering seafood on the online “seafood market”, and transferring 5 million VND in advance for a deposit. However, Mr. D.QH waited for the goods to be delivered to his house, so he called the store owner again, but at this time the store’s phone number was not reachable.

It is difficult to enumerate the number of consumers who are deceived by online sellers. The reason for these online sellers to continue to abuse and cheat with almost no consequences is that the online business is almost solely based on trust, with no clear legal obligations. . Therefore, shoppers need to be more vigilant and cautious when buying online, only buying at a clear website.

Regarding scams on social networks, the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) recommends that consumers only buy goods at websites that have been registered or notified to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Websites must provide full information about the website owner (name of the seller, address, phone number, tax code…), information on general trading conditions, and policies such as return and exchange. goods and refunds, policies on delivery, shipping, payment, privacy of consumers’ personal information. If buying goods via social networks, it is necessary to carefully study the reviews of the buyers first, find out the seller information carefully, the goods have clear origin…

Tuan Nguyen