Fake cooking gas retailers get smarter

Fake cooking gas sellers in Ho Chi Minh City are becoming more sophisticated in their operations.

Last year if they were content to put their telephone numbers on cylinders belonging to genuine operators so they could supply replacements, now they have begun to print and distribute their own brochures and leaflets.

The names on the brochures sound similar to that of legitimate operators like Binh Minh Gas and Saigon Petro.

Besides, after many of the fake distributors were busted since the authorities found it easy to track them down, they no longer operate from a fixed location; they work out of the back of a truck to avoid the police.

Their modus operandi is this: They buy 45-kilo cylinders from authorized sellers and transfer the gas into 12-kilo cylinders, usually filling much less than half. For every kilogram of gas they steal, the pocket 30,000 dong (US$1.5)

Nguyen Vu Thy Phuong of District 8, HCMC, fell victim to one such fraud when she ran out of gas in just eight days instead of the normal month and a half.

She repeatedly called the number on the brochure given by Mai Binh Minh Gas agency to complain about the problem and ask for new cylinder. But she received only promises.

When she went down to the address on the brochure — 37 Au Duong Lan, District 8 – to her disbelief, there was no such gas agency there.

A called directly to the Binh Minh Gas wholesaler confirmed her suspicion.

There are more than 10 “gas agencies” in Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Binh Tan, and Binh Chanh Districts with names like Binh Minh II, Yen Binh Minh, Hoa Binh Minh, Binh Minh 3, all of them fake.

Hung of Binh Minh Gas Limited told Tuoi Tre that his company does not have any retailers with such names.

In District 8 alone, more than 10 cases of fake cylinders purporting to be from Binh Minh have been discovered this year, he added.

Authorities also discovered someone selling under the name of Sai Gon Petrol Limited.

They busted several fake operations last year but the business is too lucrative to be eradicated.

However, the big companies too are blame since they do not control the number of cylinders circulating in the market, allowing dodgy operators to do their thing.

Le Thi Anh Man, vice chairwoman of the Vietnam Gas Association, said fakes continue on the market because the penalties are not harsh enough.

She said authorities must treat it as organized crime and impose severe penalties. The Vietnam Gas Association is plans to seek help from the police to eliminate the menace, she added. – Tuoitre

Tags: cooking gas