Fake orders a stain on e-commerce scene

Connected with a vendor on Facebook and Zalo, Hoang Phuong, a university student in Hanoi, said that she was asked to put in around 10 fake orders each day and received VND15,000 ($0.61) for each of them.

Another Hanoi resident, Manh Linh, said he was hired to make fake orders and receive a small percentage of the discount that e-commerce platforms give vendors during big sale events.

Dang Quang Huy, admin of a discussion group on online sales on social media, said that many vendors are seeking to hire people to work part-time by making fake orders.

These workers will make orders online and put in the address that the vendor has given, which is often somewhere close to where the vendor is.

The vendor will receive the package and pay for it. He or she will also pay the worker for each successful order and good reviews.

As most e-commerce platforms prioritize vendors with large sales and high reviews, the fake order business is creating unfair competition on Vietnam’s booming e-commerce industry.

Huy said that many people have complained on his group that they bought products with high reviews only to receive low-quality items.

Minh Tam in Hanoi bought one such low-quality item that had high reviews and complained to the vendor, who refused to refund her.

The vendor said that all previous "buyers" were happy with the product and so there was nothing to complain about.

Other customers said that some shops they had bought from were latter flagged with "being involved with cheating."

A representative of e-commerce giant Shopee said that making fake order is a violation of its policy. A vendor will be fined up to VND2 million if he or she is found to be cheating, and faces account removal.