Protecting consumer rights in e-commerce

It is undeniable that e-commerce helps consumers buy and sell faster, easier, and more conveniently, but it also poses many risks to consumers, such as the leak of personal information for online fraud, the purchase of fake or counterfeit goods, and the extension of time in processing complaints.

The main forms of violation are related to the sale of goods online, with sellers using the brands’ official images and videos for advertising. However, the goods delivered to consumers are different or not as advertised, sometimes they have poor quality or have already been used.

In some cases, customers have even paid money for goods that are not delivered. Others receive insufficient goods of which quality is not in accordance with the advertisement. In these cases, asking for compensation from sellers is like looking for a needle in a haystack, because sellers don't list the store with a specific address or phone number. They just do business through social networks and use virtual nicknames.

Many shoppers believe in 5-star reviews and good feedback, but these can be generated virtually with the support of technology.

While shopping online, shoppers just count on information provided by the sellers, their own shipping experience, and sometimes, faith.

Facts have shown that many violations have taken place in e-commerce. Therefore, there have been many lawsuits related to e-commerce.

According to the Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the unit handles an average of 500-2,000 consumer complaints related to online transactions every year.

Along with counterfeit goods, goods of unknown origin, and intellectual property violations, the development of the e-commerce has also created an umbrella for online fraud.

Fraudsters use social networks such as Zalo, Facebook, and Telegram to recruit collaborators to process make orders and reviews for their stores, which help to increase the store’s interaction.

The scammer sends the collaborator a product link on the e-commerce platform and requests to verify the order and transfer money to the company account.

These collaborators must have a bank account to pay for the order in advance. in return, they are committed to receiving their money back with a commission.

In the first step, for small value orders, collaborators will quickly receive a refund and commission, thus gaining trust in the fraudsters. In the next step collaborators are asked to place orders with higher value.

At this point, the fraudster uses the excuse that the company is maintaining the system or other technical reasons to refuse to return the money and commissions to the collaborators while asking the collaborators to continue working.

With the hope to get their money back and belief in fraudster’s promise, collaborators continuously transfer money until their bank account is empty. Many people may never realise they've been scammed until it's too late.

Vietnam is forecast to become the fastest growing e-commerce market in ASEAN by 2026. Consumer rights protection online is placed as a focus amid the e-commerce boom. Therefore, along with completing the legal corridor, authorities need to continue to review and propose to perfect policies in accordance with the integration and digital transformation.

It is important to develop and complete regulations guiding the implementation of the Law on Protection of Consumer Rights, particularly in cyberspace.

It is also necessary to improve the consumers’ capacity to get their rights protected through communication activities.

The active participation of businesses is needed as they are a more important subject in the consumer protection process. Enterprises must be aware of their roles in protecting consumer rights and ensuring consumers access safe and affordable products and services.

On the other hand, functional agencies need to strengthen coordination in order to enhance inspection, examination, and detection efforts and promptly handle those who produce, trade, advertise, and distribute counterfeit or low-quality goods, while also promoting institutional improvement to better protect consumer rights.