The Viet Nam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade has warned consumers against three new forms of scam when shopping online on e-commerce platforms.

As for the first scam trick, scammers will open seller accounts on e-commerce platforms with information impersonating the actual stores and trading companies to gain customer trust. Then, they sell products with prices 3-4 times cheaper than the displayed prices.

When buyers place orders, these subjects will be provided with the buyers' personal information from e-commerce floors. They will use contact methods such as Zalo and Facebook to actively contact the buyers and lure them to buy discount codes/ vouchers to trade online without going through the floors at cheaper prices. After the victims make online payment, the subjects intercept communication or send parcels containing items of no value.

In the 2^nd trick, scammers place orders in a suspended or canceled state but still create shipping orders from shipping companies to the buyers' addresses. They swapped goods or changed the real goods with fake items, or items of no value. The victims who use prepaid payment method often do not check again when receiving the goods. Under the scam, someone buys an authentic item, such as brand-name perfume. Then they purchase a counterfeit counterpart at a fraction of the authentic item’s cost.

Thirdly, scammers claim to be employees of e-commerce floors with the aim of supporting shoppers to exchange and return placed orders. Taking advantage of the shoppers’ need for the exchanges and returns of orders, these subjects promise to refund 3 times higher than paid prices.

Scammers use this ploy to gain victim trust so victims will click on a link to a fraudulent website, share private information such as phone numbers, identifier names, credit card/bank account details (including password and/or OTP), or open an attachment on their phones, tablets or computers in order to appropriate money in their bank accounts.

Reporting by QUYNH TRANG - Translating by M.DUNG