A man from the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai in Vietnam is in trouble with local law enforcement for staging photos of himself being ‘hit’ by a taxi and uploading them to Facebook for likes.

Nguyen Nhat Duy, 20, saw a taxi parked outside his rented house in Pleiku City, Gia Lai on Monday and thought it was a good opportunity to create a viral post on social media.

He laid his motorbike on its side in front of the taxi and lay down beside the vehicle, eyes closed, to create a fake accident site before asking one of his friends to take photos of the scene.

In a Facebook post that also included a photo of Duy’s national ID card for added credibility, the man claimed that the “victim” had been “knocked unconscious” by the taxi.

“The location is Mang Yang District, Gia Lai,” the caption reads.

“Please share to help find this man’s family!” it continued.

The post immediately went viral.

Meanwhile, the taxi driver, Nguyen Minh Vuong, was unaware that his vehicle was used as a prop until the next day when friends and colleagues called him to offer their condolences for the “accident."

“They sent me a link to the Facebook post, which indeed included photos of my taxi and license plate,” Vuong said.

"But I was not driving any customers at that time.”

On Thursday, Pleiku police chief Phan Nhat Toan confirmed the local police force had identified Duy as the one behind the viral photos and summoned the man for questioning.

Duy contacted the taxi driver and apologized for his action, claiming he only did it for fun and had no intention of demanding compensation, Toan said.

However, Pleiku police say they are still verifying Toan’s statement and will handle the case in accordance with the law.

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