“We offer you a service to check your sweetheart's or wife's love for you quickly and at flexible prices," “with only VND20,000 [less than a dollar] you can know for sure how much your partner loves you, send me a message right away."

These are advertisements run by 'testers' in a group for testing your partners’ hearts on social media in Vietnam.

Nowadays, it is quite easy to find such 'testing groups' on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

The number of members in these groups can range from hundreds to thousands of people.

If you search for the keyword 'test nguoi yeu' (test darlings) on TikTok, you will find some with more than 195 million searches among the hashtags returned.

Confusing services

The emerging trend shows a strange need for many couples, as well as the development of confusing services.

According to the findings of reporters from Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, the service of testing lovers first appeared in early 2023.

In recent months, the number of people who participate in groups of 'lover tests' and search for related terms has been increasing on a daily basis.

According to the observations of the reporters, it is mainly testers who most often post statuses in the groups to offer their services. Once a viewer comments on or likes one of the statuses, testers immediately send them a message.

This service attracts so many people that in some cases many posts receive dozens of comments even though they have been posted for less than an hour.

The cost of each case can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese dong, but sometimes it can be free if the tester wants to help the customer to gain experience. (US$1 = VND24,500)

In addition, there are special monthly service packages or those on their own request, which can cost millions of dong.

Indeed, not only group members want to test their lovers but those who want to part with their sweethearts for no reason also resort to the service.

In the latter cases, many testers suggest that they can play the role of a 'third person' to flirt with the client’s partner with the aim of gathering evidence for a break-up.

Among the various tactics to end a relationship are many difficult tricks, such as posing as an old flame to send love letters to the target’s house, falsely combining photos, or fabricating messages.

Someone tried to comment on a status posted by a member nicknamed Linh in a group of 'lover tests' with more than 800 members.

About five minutes later, while Linh had not yet responded, another young woman actively sent messages asking to use her service.

Unexpectedly, three more testers came forward to offer their services as well.

Considering that so many testers are active and even competing with each other, the demand for the service has now become remarkably high.

The flirt would last only a day or two?

In the discussion, Linh offered three service packages for testing a lover. These include sending messages to find out how much love the customer has, flirting with a few sweet words, asking for a date, and suggesting that this person break up with their lover.

To ensure the quality of her services, Linh boasted that she had successfully 'tested' more than 90 percent of the cases, including some instances where she made her male clients fall in love with her. 

Investigations by the Tuoi Tre reporters have revealed that before the tester sets up the testing plan, the clients have to provide some personal information about their partner, such as their habits, occupation, home address, phone number, or Facebook account.

With these personal particulars, it is easy for them to make many people show their true colors, as the testers boasted.

They even show their certainty by offering customers a refund after the service was actually performed well.

To attract the target audience, Linh and other testers post their beautiful and attractive photos on social media. They also have a nice conversation style because they have received customers’ personal information in advance.

During the testing phase, the testers constantly keep the customers updated on their progress. If the target seems to have fallen into the trap, the tester interrupts the mission to provide evidence or offer a final service. 

To learn more about this trick, the journalists contacted another tester named Nhi, who said that she would not charge them if she could not meet their requirements.

“I rarely fail, I am afraid that I would make you sad, but, if necessary, I am ready to trap him,” warned the young woman.

In Nhi's account, the so-called service of 'trapping lovers' is another step that helps a person to retaliate against the cheater. “It means that I make your lover love me sincerely, then I meet with him until a time when he becomes attached to me and I separate from him,” Nhi explained.

When asked whether or not they worry about their work becoming known, both Linh and Nhi confidently said that love testers like them often use many different accounts. They mainly use online photos rather than real names, making it almost impossible to expose them.

Given the testers' stories and some of their customers' posts, it is safe to assume that their age is mostly under 25. They usually use the service to test their lovers, relatives or friends, only a few want to test their wives or husbands.

The reporters try to take the role of a female tester to look for the reasons behind the emerging trend of testing. From the response of a 'customer' named Ngan, the reporters can see that she uses the service only because of feelings and emotions.

This 23-year-old woman wants to 'try it' because she finds that her lover has been secretly sending messages and smiling secretly for the past few days.

“When I ask who he's been messaging, he tells me he's been messaging his friend, but you do not talk to friends who grin like that,” Ngan said.

In another case, a young girl named My has an even more confusing and strange reason for asking for the service.

My’s boyfriend is studying at another college. She notices that he has been slow to respond to her messages lately, fearing that he may be cheating on her.

Apart from some customers who want to try the emerging strange service, most of the clients are people who are unsure about their love because of the geographical distance and the attitude of their loved ones.

Some of the reasons are really childish, such as replying to messages too late, giving a heart to an unknown girl, or not showing up on time for online chat.

As for some customers opting for the service to check on their wife or husband, their causes are mainly due to doubtful information they have received from others.

It is a fact that many clients who work full-time or women who are pregnant use the service because it allows them to verify rumors they have heard.

According to Le Minh Huan, a psychologist from An Nhien Education - Psychology Application Center in Ho Chi Minh City, not only young people but those who are not prudent enough in love also utilize this service.

“The love of immature people is easily prone to disagreements and conflicts, while their behavior toward each other is sometimes too subjective. The fact that they resort to this kind of service shows that their trust in their sweethearts is extremely fragile,” Huan remarked.

The psychologist added that it is not surprising when testers in the past boasted about their high success rate. One of the many reasons why a person may fall into the trap is their relationship may be in question, which would lead them to easily shrug off a normal proposal to go out, Huan said.

A person who errs is likely to be persuaded by another who shows compassion, which then results in a higher success rate among testers.

Despite the high success rate, Huan believes that every single one of them will be a 'failed love.' 

If someone decides to use the service to test their sweetheart, they will lose their sincerity and fairness. When the testing service is successful, their relationship will reach an impasse.

“Even if the target can overcome the testing situation, other challenges may come for them later on since doubts abound in their relationship,” Huan added.

So those who use these services should think about themselves, the psychologist said.

"If they have a sincere love and trust themselves to maintain and improve their relationship, why would they feel inferior?" he questioned.

In his suggestions, Huan encourages doubtful couples to talk openly to each other and look for solutions to maintain their relationship in the best of their capacity.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!