Like other goods, books also have to follow the tastes of the majority of readers. Therefore, books serving the research or improving knowledge of history and culture are rarely reprinted. If they are, the quantity is very small because not many people buy them. Taking advantage of this, dishonest people have resorted to deceptive tricks. I myself have lost money twice to buy fake books.

The first time was ordering the book “To learn about 8 ancient Chinese novels” by Professor Luong Duy Thu. Having a passion for classical Chinese literature, I was sure that this book contained new research and discoveries about these works, so I ordered a copy. When the shipper delivered the goods, I only opened the cover and paid. When I opened the book to see, it turned out to be a photocopy of the book of the same name published by the Social Sciences Publishing House in association with Mui Ca Mau Publishing House since 1990.

In addition, to fool buyers, it was made thicker by widening the line spacing and enlarging the font size to 16, making it look like a book for the blind. Although I bought a fake book, I told myself: At least the content is still usable.

The second time I was shocked because not only did I buy a photocopy of the book, but the content was completely unnecessary. The book I ordered was “Complete Research Journal of Literature-History-Geography”. According to the online advertisement, the collection consisted of 5 volumes; a collection of research articles from 40 issues of the Literature-History-Geography journal.

It should be added that the Journal of Literature-History-Geography was previously a very prestigious research journal, associated with the names of famous scientists such as: Van Tan, Tran Huy Lieu, Hoang Xuan Han, Dao Duy Anh... Moreover, the book is hardcover, priced at only 599 thousand VND and free shipping.

So, I believed until I opened the book to see: Volume 1 was a photocopy of the entire book “Vietnamese Poets” by Hoai Thanh-Hoai Chan. Volume 2 was a photocopy of the entire collection “Literature Issues” by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City. Volume 3 was the entire Folklore textbook of the Faculty of Literature, Hanoi Pedagogical University. Volume 4 was the work “A Panorama of Vietnamese Poetry 1945-1975” by Associate Professor-PhD Nguyen Ba Thanh. Volume 5 was also the entire research on folk legends but there was no name of the work and it was unclear who the author was. All were photocopied in a very small font size, my poor eyesight required a magnifying glass.

At that time, I realized that if the book was real as advertised, it could not have a price of 599 thousand dong. Likewise, for example, the book set “Phu bien tap luc” by Le Quy Don, consisting of 5 volumes, hardcover, very beautiful; if it were real, it could not have a price of 599 thousand dong and free shipping.

The trick of the fake book sellers is to take real books, at real prices, and advertise them online; then offer promotions and discounts. For example, the book series “Tay Son Thuc Luc” has an original price of 1,169,100 VND, but the sellers use the trick of “today only” to reduce the price to only 299,000 VND plus free shipping. With such a discount, buyers should think that they are only getting photocopied books.

Be careful when buying books online not only to avoid losing money on fake books but also to avoid unintentionally assisting illegal businesses that violate the intellectual property rights of authors and publishers.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/mua-sach-qua-mang-can-trong-keo-bi-lua-post315414.html