Hạ Long Bay authorities said on Friday they had offered a free cruise to a newlywed South African couple who were scammed by an online tour booking fraud.

Hạ Long Bay authorities try to help the scammed South African couple. 

Hạ Long Bay Management Board deputy chairman Phạm Đình Huỳnh said the foreign couple arrived in Tuần Châu Port in the northern Quảng Ninh Province on Thursday afternoon, only to realise that the overnight cruise they had booked on Hotels.com was a hoax.

The port authorities reported the case immediately to the Hạ Long Bay Management Board.

Huỳnh said the board arranged a free overnight tour for the couple, who were in Việt Nam for their honeymoon.

This was the second recent case in which foreign tourists pre-booked fake tours of the bay, he said. — VNS