Many customers have fallen prey to a mobile phone shop in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 11 which lures buyers by offering modern smartphones of renowned brand names on two websites at only a third of the original prices. The phones are in fact fake products with poor quality and no guarantee ensured, according to some victims who reported their purchases to Tuoi Tre after realizing that they have been cheated. The city’s market management authorities on Monday raided the Thanh Tra mobile phone shop on Lac Long Quan Street, where hundreds of cell phones are on display. But officials discovered later that there are in fact only 11 real mobile phones bearing Apple, Samsung, HTC, and Nokia brand names, while the rest are empty boxes and plastic models. The raid was conducted following a report by Nguyen Thuy Duong, a Tan Binh District resident, who bought a Samsung Galaxy S3 from the shop via advertisements on two websites, thegioididongonline.com, and thegioididong24g.com. Duong paid VND5.2 million (US$249) for the phone, while the normal market rate is as high as VND15.7 million. The ‘smartphone’ soon developed malfunctions and font errors, and ended up shutting down, she said. The buyer contacted the shop, owned by Vo Thi Thanh Tra, about a product warranty and return, but was repeatedly asked to wait. In working with the market management officials, Tra failed to provide any invoices or papers to prove her products’ origins and quality. All of the mobile phones at Thanh Tra are forged products, an official said. At the time of the inspection, a number of customers also brought their products to the shop to complain. An iPhone 4, claimed by the shop as ‘original’, is on sale at VND3 million, while the authentic Apple product costs no less than VND19 million. Tra confessed to buying the said smart phones from unknown sources, before reselling to customers via online ads. “Some men drop by my shop two to three times a week and invite me to buy those phones,” she told officials. “I just buy and resell without knowing about their quality,” she admitted. The owner added that she also runs advertisements on the raovat.com.vn to attract customers from other localities.