The police in New South Wales (NSW), Australia on January 7 have begun an investigation into fake airfares that have been selling via a facebook account to apparently hundreds of Vietnamese students in the country.

The investigators worked with representatives of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines in Australia, the Association of Vietnamese Dynamic Students (VDS) in NSW, and several cheated Vietnamese students.

The initial investigation showed that the suspect is probably a Vietnamese individual or a group of Vietnamese people in Australia.

According to VDS President Hoang Anh, more than 300 Vietnamese students in Sydney and Melbourne reported that they were cheated by the Vi Tran facebook account, who sold them at least 300 fake return airfares from Vietnam Airlines, worth a total of over 355,000 USD.

Australian investigators are working on the case

The facebook account closed a week ago and the contact number is not available, either.

According to the affected students, the Vi Tran facebook account has sold genuine cheap air tickets for over a year without issue, and it was only in recent weeks that the fake airfares were sold to unsuspecting Vietnamese in Australia.

Vietnamese General Consul in Sydney Hoang Minh Son pledged to provide legal assistance for the affected students.

He also urged local overseas Vietnamese students to observe the host regulations.

Representatives of Vietnam Airlines in Sydney also pledged to do their utmost to help Vietnamese students in the case.

The Embassy of Vietnam in Australia, the General Consulate of Vietnam in Sydney and relevant bodies are actively working with the host law enforcement force to handle the case.

Source: VNA