Many consumers who had purchased goods for the Lunar New Year from online shops have been harassed by traders to whom they had provided their phone numbers.
Thuy Duong, a resident in Hanoi, said she had called the hot line 0977237xxx of an online shop to place some orders for a number of items during Tet, and had since been bombarded by many text messages from a man who identified himself as the shop’s trader, VnExpress Newswire reported.
The man asked for personal information such as her age, address, and what she did during Tet holidays. When the deadline for delivery was over and Duong still didn’t receive her items, she dialed the phone number again and was told that her order had been omitted by mistake.
She then canceled the order, but several days later, the man sent her a number of text messages, one of which was to apologize for the delay and others were to ask about her personal life and even flirt with her.
“I was very upset to be disturbed this way,” Duong said. “They offered to sell goods but failed to deliver them. Instead, they pried into my personal life. If such a practice is not prevented, many other people will fall victims to their harassment.”
Another victim is Nguyen Nhu Phuc, of Hanoi, who received four calls within the first day of Tet from an employee of a business website to which Phuc had provided her full name, phone number and email when she bought some items before Tet.
The employee offered to sell her cosmetics, invited her to take out an insurance policy, and advised her to take a course in living skills, Phuc said.
“Although I was uncomfortable to be disturbed on the first day of Tet, I tried to refuse the offers politely. But I was very upset to hear the employee said, ‘It is the beginning of the year, so if you don’t take these good opportunities, you will likely suffer bad luck in your business for the whole year,’” Phuc said.
Talking with VnExpress, the director of an Internet service provider (ISP) said his company had also received complaints from many customers about similar cases.
He advised all mobile phone users to provide their personal information only to traders who are reliable and committed to keeping consumers’ information confidential.
Most cell phones are equipped with call and SMS blocking functions and users can use them to protect themselves from such disturbance.
If a phone does not have such functions, users can register with the ISPs to use their call and SMS blocking services, he said.
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