On May 15, information from the People's Committee of Co To District (Quang Ninh) said that the locality had just received information that many subjects were taking advantage of the high demand for tourists to the island district during the summer to offer cheap tours and travel combos to defraud and appropriate property.

Specifically, the group often uses the trick of claiming to be employees or collaborators of travel companies, tour operators or hotels on Co To Island and then tries to solicit and urge customers to transfer money to book rooms and train tickets in advance with the reason that it is peak season and if they do not book quickly, there will be no more seats.

To convince tourists, these scammers also offer prices that are cheaper than the average and promise that there are enough rooms to meet demand, even during peak times.

Because they believed the brokers, many people deposited millions of dong. On the day of their trip to Co To Island, the tourists called to double check and realized they had been scammed.

In response to the above incident, the authorities of Co To district warned residents and tourists to book services through reputable companies, requiring them to provide business licenses, travel business licenses, confirmation of domestic travel business deposits and some other legally valid certification documents.

Tourists should not book services through intermediaries or unreliable social networking sites to avoid risks and avoid paying higher prices than the listed price. The authorities, the Department of Culture - Information and Tourism of Co To District will not handle any risks that may occur when tourists book services through intermediaries (spontaneous travel combos).

Tourists need to save all relevant information during the service purchase process such as payment receipts, emails, messages... When transacting, the buyer must ask the service provider to make a contract with detailed terms, clearly stating responsibilities if the contract is violated and sanctions.

In particular, if there are any unusual signs, buyers need to promptly report to the police of Quang Ninh province and Co To district to receive support to protect their legal rights.

Co To District also recommends that tourists should book services directly with tourism service providers in the district, including transport ships, tourist accommodation facilities, restaurants, or book via phone numbers provided on the websites, social networks of the facilities or the phone numbers of the owners provided by the Department of Culture - Information and Tourism of Co To District or the Co To Tourism Association; request the owners to provide business licenses and legal documents issued by competent authorities.

In addition, Co To district also set up a hotline to receive information and support tourists at phone number 0365.871.479 to receive feedback and information about tourist destinations in the district.