玩偶姐姐

What are the most common scams targeting expats in Vietnam?

PHONY ONLINE VISA AGENTS who promise to fix visa application problems or simply offer Visa application assistance that never materializes.

Also,

ONLINE AGENCIES PROMISING WORK PERMITS AND EMPLOYMENT VISAS ALONG WITH BOGUS EMPLOYMENT

What are the specific warning signs to look out for?

if it's too good to be true it almost certainly is.

Have you noticed certain groups being more vulnerable (for example, retirees, new arrivals, or non-native speakers)?

Virtually everyone is a non-native speaker when they visit this country. it's not like the United States where significant numbers of new arrivals speak some English.

People from politically unstable nations where poverty is high seem to be most likely to be targeted by scammers.

it's been noted by us here in the forum as well as by the Vietnamese press that citizens of African nations seem to have the greatest risk of being scammed, especially for fake work permits.

What tips and advice would you like to share to help other expats? Cheryl 玩偶姐姐 Team - @Cheryl

Make your first trip here non-committal and exploratory. Do NOT sell all of your possessions and spend all of your savings crossing an ocean to get here as the risk is very high that there will not be a job waiting for you, so there will not be a work permit waiting for you, so a legal employment visa will not be available for you.

Spend the minimum amount of money possible coming here FIRST on a tourist visa, then explore opportunities face-to-face with prospective employers.

There is absolutely no legal employment available here without a work permit and in order to get a work permit, you must be approved as an expert by the government.

If you think you can come here and get by working at entry level jobs, that's absolutely forbidden. All of those employment opportunities are reserved for Vietnamese citizens.

"What are the most common scams targeting expats in Vietnam?"

Anything and everything!聽 And not just targeted at expats, scams are rife even against the Vietnamese so exercise caution.聽 If possible get word of mouth referrals etc.

Hi Cheryl. Excellent topic for the forum! Thank you for that.

The most common scam I've seen would be price gouging (i.e. so called "foreigners tax") and/or taking advantage of a foreigner's unfamiliarity with the local currency's bill denominations (there's a lot of zeros!). My advice to visitors is to know the conversion value of Vietnamese Dong to your home currency. Knowing the value of commonly used VND bill amounts will help a lot (50,000聽 100,000聽 200,000聽 500,000 VND notes). After paying, always count the change returned to you by the seller. Short changing can be a thing here.

Charging tourists (or new expats) for photo-ops with local street vendors is also common. Typically, a "friendly" vendor will approach foreigners, letting them don a VN conical hat, or carry across their shoulder a bamboo pole with a basket hanging at each end, or pose between two locals dressed in traditional clothing for a picture. Once the pic is taken the pitch is made to the foreigner to pay-up. My advice, should one find oneself in such a situation, is to offer to pay the local a small tip (20,000 to 50,000 VND is fine).

Before hiring a motorcycle taxi (Xe om) or a cyclo, negotiate the price for the ride before hopping on board. This will avoid any confusion/disagreement/conflict upon arrival at your destination. Motorcycle taxis and cyclos are a nice experience for the uninitiated, but for comfort, safety, and a known charge I recommend using the GRAB app for booking transportation.

Watch for the fine print聽 on the menus of some establishments in tourist areas. Things like "add'l 10% charge after 10:00 PM", and such. Also, if you're out enjoying a few beer/drinks, consider paying the waiter/waitress each time your order is delivered to your table.

Though not a scam per se, when using an ATM cash machine, or a credit/debit card at a vendor, if offered the option of receiving/paying in VND or in your home country's currency, opt for the Vietnamese Dong. The conversion rate will always be in the vendor's favour, so you'll save money by paying in VND.

These are just a couple of examples off the top of my head.

Watch for the fine print on the menus of some establishments in tourist areas. Things like "add'l 10% charge after 10:00 PM", and such. Also, if you're out enjoying a few beer/drinks, consider paying the waiter/waitress each time your order is delivered to your table.
- @Aidan in HCMC

That reminded me of the 2-menu scam on the infamous B霉i Vi峄噉 Walking Street in HCMC:

You sit down to order drinks/food and prices seem reasonable.

After you're done, an absolutely outlandish & excessive bill is received.

When you question the prices they bring out a virtually identical menu, except the prices are 3 or 4 times higher.

You either pay or call the police, who are very wise to this scam

Good thread topic.

Like to hear thoughts on this:

Yesterday Arrived at Da Nang airport. Went to taxi rank in front of the terminal. Two guys in orange high vis vests with lanyard badges were guiding arrivals to taxis. I'd read online to trust three services but the vest guy took my case and walked to the second taxi in a queue of two. It s name wasn't any of the 'trusty' services. It was called Da Nang Taxis or some such. At the airport exit gate/toll point the driver showed me a small much-used print out with a QR code on it with Vietnamese text, and written in numbers '190000' and driver said this was carpark exit fee. I bluffed and ignored this. He had the meter on but it was a screen shared by the car's data-聽 time, temperature, etc so it wasn't constantly visible to the passenger. Arrived at hotel and the QR code demand had gone away. He flipped the screen to the meter which read 590000. I said no. Finally I settled on 400k. Still too much I know. Hotel said should have been around 250k from airport. I got his licence plate and taxi number, and physical description. I'm usually more attentive to potential scams but I was distracted, had two large cases and just wanted to check-in.聽

Arrived at hotel and the QR code demand had gone away. He flipped the screen to the meter which read 590000. I said no. Finally I settled on 400k. Still too much I know. Hotel said should have been around 250k from airport. I got his licence plate and taxi number, and physical description. - @It2VN

Where is your hotel? In 膼脿 N岷祅g or H峄檌 An?

If in 膼脿 N岷祅g, you need to report the taxi AND your hotel to the police.

Here are the current charges using Grab (which usually isn't a lot cheaper than a taxi on a meter).

If your hotel is in H峄檌 An, 鈧�250,000 is the standard rate from the airport.

If in 膼脿 N岷祅g, you need to report the taxi AND your hotel to the police.

- @OceanBeach92107

Agreed, 100%!

Da Nang tourist protection hotlines

Hotline number, available 24/7

0236.3550.111

Hotel on Loseby street DaNang.

I don't see the need to report the hotel, unless you re saying it is one of the driver's fee sharing partners...?

I was of a mind to book a grab but at that moment I had no Internet to book with.

I'll try to report it using the supplied number. Thanks.

I'll try to report it using the supplied number. Thanks. - @It2VN

Realise not possible as my esim is data only and I'm not recharging my italy number.聽 If there's an email address to report to that would work.

I'll try to report it using the supplied number. Thanks. - @It2VN
Realise not possible as my esim is data only and I'm not recharging my italy number. If there's an email address to report to that would work.
- @It2VN

Da Nang Tourist Support Center

108 Bach Dang Str., Hai Chau District., Da Nang City

0236 3550111

visitorcenter@danang.gov.vn

Please keep the forum updated.

Below are the numbers I was able to compile through a cursory search.

I hope it helps any member in need

In 2023 Vietnam established, through its Department of Tourism, "hotline numbers" to provide support to foreign visitors to the country.聽 Relative to this thread is that the operators at the hotline numbers process and forward to police reports of scams.

There are many other services offered by the dept. through these numbers, such as free travel maps, entertainment brochures, walking-tour recommendations, student activities, etc.

Hanoi Tourist Protection

1800 556896

0941 336677

Da Nang Tourist Support

0236 3550111

0919 247009

HCMC (Saigon) Tourist Protection

dial 1022 and select ext 8聽 (7:30 - 20:30 daily)

Information & Support Branch 1

028 3920 3040

Information & Support Branch 2

028 3620 7474

Lots of hotel/resort scams right now. There is an elaborate scheme all over Vietnam that fake websites, fake facebook and istagram pages are popping up mirroring hotels and resorts all over. Ive mentioned here before that reserving a hotel or resort can be quite hit or miss in the country as even using trusted sites like booking dont always guarantee your actually reserved. We have been burned many times thinking booking held a room for us only to show up and be told we had to deposit ahead of time to reserve and now they are fully booked. Booking does not require a deposit ahead of time so nobody would even know this.

The scam is that these fake websites that look identical to the real ones and sometimes even more real than the real ones prey on the fact that Vietnam is a deposit ahead of time type of culture. You contact the fake hotel and they seem 100% legit and even send pictures of the rooms and tell you this room is booked, this one is free but only 2 nights etc... It just seems very legit. You send the deposit in and they either leave you thinking your booked when your not or they try to squeeze more out of you by saying some computer system requires you to send the money again and they will refund you the previous amount which of course will never come.

My wife's native Vietnamese neice has been scammed like this 3 times now. Its tough for Vietnamese because often times the hotels they can afford are the ones you have to call in and deposit ahead of time. They arent staying at fancy resorts with advanced booking systems or advertise on booking or agoda which can double their price.

To make matters worse these fakers are masters of SEO and when you search for a resort or hotel its not uncommon to see the first few results as the fake page rather than the real one.

My wife and I got scammed in Da Lat this way. The scam was extremely elaborate. The fake page had tik tok videos and reviews of the hotel. There was a facebook page with 15k followers when the real page only had like 350 followers. There were lots of reviews and photos on the fake page. Fake website was very well put together and the real hotel didnt even have a website. There was even a duplicate google maps listing which you guessed it, came up as the first result over the real one.

Doing more research and talking with the owner of the real hotel come to find out its not just a few bad actors. This is a massive organization. He said it was going to bankrupt his business. Trying to track down whats going on it seems to be foreign bad actors (possibly from China) with international accounts moving money through Laos and then who knows where.

If you report to the police but they say there is litterally nothing that can be done because there are too many protections for the businesses and corporations. Even if they were able to shut down the LLC that was doing the scam the money is gone and alraedy funneled out of the country. In Vietnam you can hire an attorney to set up a foreign LLC with a foreign account and that attorney holds 0 liability and can claim they had no idea. Often times the owner of the LLC or bank account is some random person who has no idea whats going on and had their info hacked/stolen. Ironically my wife may have had her identity stolen and used for some type of criminal activity. She found out someone opened a Vietin bank account in a province she has never been to back when she was living in the US and hadnt even been to Vietnam in 8 years.

I'll try to report it using the supplied number. Thanks. - @It2VN
Realise not possible as my esim is data only and I'm not recharging my italy number. If there's an email address to report to that would work.
- @It2VN

E-sim with what company?

If it's a mobile carrier here in Vietnam, it has a default phone number.

Ask someone honest at your hotel (maybe better to ask someone at an official store for that mobile carrier) how to simply add cash to your account. then you can start making phone calls until you use up that money. Usually 膽100,000 VN膼 is enough to cover the few calls you'll be making

I'll try to report it using the supplied number. Thanks. - @It2VN
Realise not possible as my esim is data only and I'm not recharging my italy number. If there's an email address to report to that would work.
- @It2VN
E-sim with what company?
If it's a mobile carrier here in Vietnam, it has a default phone number.
Ask someone honest at your hotel (maybe better to ask someone at an official store for that mobile carrier) how to simply add cash to your account. then you can start making phone calls until you use up that money. Usually 膽100,000 VN膼 is enough to cover the few calls you'll be making - @OceanBeach92107

It's an Ubigi esim for 30 days. Maybe a furure sim will be with Vinitel or similar.

Thanks for the Da Nang tourist service email. I'll update with any reply I might receive.

Banged off an email yesterday. Let's see what results...

(Doesn't hold breath...)

@Cheryl

@Cheryl

I have been in Vietnam for more than 16 years and married a local woman with two children. Imagine my surprise when my聽 Canadian TD bank closed my lifetime pension account. Dozens of calls and the bank hasn't restored my income and isn't interested in what appears to be a bank mess-up. The evidence appears to indicate a much wider scam far beyond me.聽 Think it can't happen? Scammers are everywhere! and respect no boundaries.

***

Twice I tried to communicate with an American lawyer resident in Saigon with no reply. I tried to contact 3 female lawyers resident in Perth Ontario also with no reply. I would never believe this could happen to a law abiding Canadian but being a strange person in a strange country makes one a target regardless of nationality. Watch your back.

@I do believe

Contact the

If you don't manage to resolve it through them, elevate the matter to the .

Good luck, and please let us know how you fare with this.

In an earlier thread I mentioned a common Booking.com hotel scam of contacting you directly right after the booking is made, requesting you call where they change the price. Another is a cheap room price with a service fee of hundreds of dollars. If you don鈥檛 notice it on the listing and carelessly pay ahead of time, I guess you don鈥檛 notice till you look at your bill?

a VN national recently bought bus tickets off TikTok or similar and waited for a bus that never came. 800k.

Another one that I have heard a few times (never happened to me) but is also common for Vietnamese. You rent an apartment and your there for a few days or weeks and all of a sudden the power cuts off. Come to find out the electric company cut off power due to unpaid bills that happened way before you got in there. Landlord refuses to pay so you either suck it up and pay yourself which could be 5 million or more, just live in it without power or you get in a fight with your landlord making things weird and you have to leave just forfeiting your deposit.

Another one that I have heard a few times (never happened to me) but is also common for Vietnamese. You rent an apartment and your there for a few days or weeks and all of a sudden the power cuts off. Come to find out the electric company cut off power due to unpaid bills that happened way before you got in there. Landlord refuses to pay so you either suck it up and pay yourself which could be 5 million or more, just live in it without power or you get in a fight with your landlord making things weird and you have to leave just forfeiting your deposit. - @jrharvey

Hello all,

Thank you all for your input!

@jrharvey, Regarding this specific issue, is there any way for expats to avoid it? Can they check in advance if the electricity bills are up to date before moving in? It would be helpful to know if there are steps they can take to protect themselves in such situations.

Cheers,

Cheryl

@Cheryl

The only way I know to avoid this is to have a Vietnamese bank and get the electric company account number and it will look up what is owed on the electric.

@Cheryl
The only way I know to avoid this is to have a Vietnamese bank and get the electric company account number and it will look up what is owed on the electric. - @jrharvey

That's definitely a possibility.

I suspect that the underlying problem may be twofold: 1. The tendency of expats to rent as short-term as possible and 2. The tendency of expats to avoid using an agent, whenever possible.

We've now rented houses long-term (one year or longer) two different times, both times using reputable agents who arranged to have all of the pertinent paperwork available at the time of lease signing with the landlord.

We had the status of the electric account clearly printed out at the time we took over the houses, so there was never any problem.

In another case, when we rented a house directly through the landlord for 3 months in An B脿ng, H峄檌 An, she also had that paperwork printed out for my Vietnamese wife and me.

If someone were to read back through my posts over the last 7 years you'd see that I used to be a big believer in avoiding agents whenever possible.

If for no other reason, I'm now a big fan of reputable agents who know how to do all the paperwork properly and have me registered with the local police; just a couple of things that many local landlords are clueless about.