Two Spanish tourists who were given fake money as change in Hanoi last week were cheated by a taxi driver, police in Hoan Kiem District reported.
Tran Van Phong and the votive paper he gave to the two foreign visitors as change.
According to a police report released on July 21, the two Spanish visitors Miguel Fernandez Lamelas and Elena Blasco Hernandez arrived in Hanoi on July 15.
At 7pm on July 16, the couple took a taxi ride from a restaurant on Le Thai To Street to their hotel in Long Bien District for VND37,000 (USD1.6). They gave the driver Tran Van Phong, 29, a VND500,000 (USD22) note, and Phong gave them three votive papers as change.
The tourists said it was the first time they had visited the country, so they were unable to distinguish between real money and votive paper money.On the morning of July 17, the two tourists tried to use the notes to pay for a taxi ride and were told that it was votive money, which is usually burnt as offerings for deceased relatives in Vietnam.
