Two investigators work with representatives of VN Airlines, VDS and Vietnamese students. Photo: TTXVN

Australian police met with a representative of Vietnam Airlines and the Vietnamese Dynamic Students (VDS) in NSW as well as some victims.

Earlier, many Vietnamese went to police stations in Sydney and Melbourne to report the fraud.

Chairman Hoang Anh of the Vietnam Students’ Association said that according to statistics as of January 6, more than 300 Vietnamese students in Sydney and Melbourne had bought fake tickets of Vietnam Airlines to return to Vietnam this Lunar New Year holiday through a Facebooker named Vi Tran. The total amount paid to Vi Tran by the students was over AU$500,000.

Vietnam Airlines has confirmed that Vi Tran is not its agent.

According to Vietnamese students in Melbourne, the actual number could be higher, perhaps up to 500 people.

This is the greatest fraud ever involving a large number of foreign students in Australia.

The initial information suggests that the instigator is one or a group of Vietnamese in Australia.

The Vietnamese Ambassador to Australia Mr. Luong Thanh Nghi said immediately after receiving the information, the Consulate General of Vietnam in Sydney met with representatives of the Vietnamese Dynamic Students in Sydney to verify the information.

The Vietnam Consulate General in Sydney Mr. Hoang Minh Son pledged to give legislative support to Vietnamese victims.

Son advised students to stay calm, not follow calls for mass gatherings, abide by Australian laws and lean on official announcements from relevant authorities, not on unverified information on the internet.

A representative of Vietnam Airlines in Sydney said the airlines would do its best by answering any questions and helping students to buy new tickets to return home for the Lunar New Year Holiday. Assistance is provided via email anle@vietnamairlines.com.

The victims said they purchased the tickets through Facebook and telephone. Transactions were made with a woman named Vi Tran.

After placing orders for the ticket, students were asked to transfer money to different accounts (so far at least three accounts have been identified, including the accounts of two air ticket agents). They were told to receive the booking notice or e-tickets before their departure.

Vi Tran’s Facebook page was already closed for about 1 week and the telephone number was not longer operating.  

The students said that Vi Tran had sold air tickets via Facebook for about one year.

At first, Vi Tran was willing to sell tickets at a loss (AU$300-700 cheaper than the tickets ordered at the official agents). Therefore, more and more people ordered tickets through Vi Tran and this person’s prestige spread quickly among the community of Vietnamese students in Australia.

Students began booking air tickets to Vietnam for the Lunar New Year 2016 from June and July 2015.

Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, Vietnamese General Consulate in Sydney, Viet Nam Airlines and VDS are working with Australian authorities to soon address the fraud. 

Linh Nhat