Vietnam Airlines on August 22 warned passengers about increasingly sophisticated airline ticket scams as travel demand rises ahead of the National Day holiday on September 2.
Passengers check in at an airport (Photo: Quoc Nam).
According to the national flag carrier, fraudsters have been creating fake websites, social media pages and online accounts to advertise discounted airfares, promotional campaigns, recruitment programmes, career experiences and activities for children. The schemes are designed to steal money and collect personal information from unsuspecting users.
The airline said a recent tactic involves exploiting information about preferential ticket programmes for employees and their relatives by offering heavily discounted tickets to the public.
Vietnam Airlines stressed that employee and family travel benefits are subject to multiple layers of verification, including personnel records, identity checks and usage conditions. The policy does not allow tickets to be sold or transferred to individuals outside the approved family network.
Passengers can verify the validity of tickets issued by the airline through its official booking system using a reservation code or electronic ticket number.
The carrier advised customers to purchase tickets only through its official website, mobile application, ticket offices and authorised agents. Travellers were also urged to check booking status and flight itineraries through official channels and never share one-time passwords (OTPs), passwords, banking details or transfer money based on requests from unverified accounts or links.
Dinh Van Tuan, deputy chief executive officer of Vietnam Airlines, said the growing digitalisation of aviation services has improved convenience but also increased the need for transaction security.
He said the airline is strengthening technology-based safeguards, improving the identification of official channels, coordinating with authorities to tackle brand impersonation and regularly issuing warnings to help passengers recognise potential risks.
According to the Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security, authorities recorded 959 online fraud cases nationwide in the first six months of the year, with total losses estimated at around VND 1.5 trillion.
Officials said fraudsters continue to adapt their methods, often exploiting the reputation of well-known brands to gain trust before stealing money or harvesting personal data.
