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A street gang member is pictured to scam foreign tourists around Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo: tuoitre.vn
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However, nine street gang members who were ripping off domestic and foreign visitors admitted to only forcing foreigners to pay money. When summoned, one of the nine scammers confessed to the police that they only forced three foreign tourists to have shoes repaired in early October.
An investigation by Tuoi Tre newspaper showed that a group consists of 20 members were caught scamming foreign tourists by polishing shoes, selling donuts, souvenirs, noodle soup, etc.
The investigation, which lasted more than one month, shows that one member of the group forced dozens of visitors to spend money. To carry out the above behavior, the scammers worked in group and threatened visitors in order to appropriate money from them.
This situation has existed for many years with 3 or 4 persons around Hoan Kiem Lake, but in recent years this group has continuously recuited new members to create gangs and cheat tourists.
The young shoe shiners, aged from 20 to 30, ussualy wander the area around the Hoan Kiem Lake and chose their “prey” well, typically targeting single tourists or foreign couples. They would approach a foreign man or woman suddenly, point at their sandals or shoes, and all but yank them off the foreigner’s feet.
Two months ago, the Economic and Urban newspaper also conducted a series of investigative reports related to harassment tourist attractions, especially foreign tourists and the police pledged to handle the problem strictly to keep the nice image of the capital city.
Tuyet Nhung