4.2 million VND ride case: Victim reveals threats causing outrage, driver offers shocking offer?

The case of forcing a family of ethnic minorities in difficult circumstances to pay nearly 5 million VND in taxi and motorbike taxi fares has shocked public opinion in Hanoi. The police have now launched an investigation.

Expensive Rides: Fear and Tears of Ethnic Minorities

The two victims in the incident were Giang Ho (25 years old) and his aunt, Cu Mua (32 years old), both Mong people, residing in Cao Son commune, Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province. They came to Hanoi to take Ms. Mua’s son to see a doctor for heart disease - a disease that has caused her family to incur a debt of more than 100 million VND over the past three years. Their difficult circumstances, combined with their unfamiliarity with the big city, made them targets for predators.

At around 2:00 p.m. on June 13, after leaving the National Children's Hospital, Giang Ho and Cu Mua called a motorbike taxi to go to My Dinh bus station, planning to catch a bus to Lao Cai. However, when they arrived at the bus station gate, a man wearing a conical hat and holding a stick approached them and asked which bus they were taking. When Giang Ho replied that it was Truc Nghiu bus, the man immediately claimed to be a bus employee, informed them that the bus had just left the station and suggested calling a motorbike taxi to take them after him.

Sophisticated scam scenario: From motorbike taxi to taxi and the unbelievable "price gouging"

Trusting the man’s words, the aunt and niece got on the motorbike taxi that this man called. After traveling about 1km, the motorbike taxi driver suddenly informed them that the bus was waiting at Km23 of the highway and asked them to change to a taxi so he could return. Here, Giang Ho and Cu Mua were charged 700,000 VND for the short motorbike taxi ride and the fake “bus fare”.

Illustration photo.

Then, another taxi showed up and took them away. Instead of taking them to the bus pick-up point as promised, the taxi driver took them to a deserted area near the turnoff to Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway and stopped the car. Here, the "price gouging" scenario reached its peak when the driver brazenly demanded that they pay 4.2 million VND for the fare.

Mr. Giang Ho told Thanh Nien newspaper: "I said I ran out of money, only 1.2 million in cash left, but the driver did not listen, I had to have 4.2 million to get off, otherwise he would take me back to My Dinh". In a panic and fear, he was forced to call his relatives in his hometown to urgently borrow 4 million VND to transfer to the driver via QR code.

More importantly, after receiving the money, the driver still asked for the remaining 200,000 VND before letting Giang Ho get off the bus. Ms. Cu Mua choked up and said: "We were threatened on the bus. I was afraid that if I didn't have money, they would punish me."

After being forced off the bus, the aunt and her niece had to walk from there to Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway in the hot sun, extremely confused and desperate. Luckily, they met Mr. Xuan Truong - who shared the story on social media - and he gave them a ride to the bus stop to go home.

The pain piles up and the financial burden gets heavier.

The amount of nearly 5 million VND (4.2 million for taxi and 700 thousand for motorbike taxi) is a huge amount for Ms. Cu Mua's family. She confided that she is a farmer and has borrowed more than 100 million VND from everywhere to treat her son's heart disease for the past 3 years. Now, they have to bear more debt because of this expensive and unreasonable ride. Ms. Mua earnestly hopes that the authorities will take drastic action to reclaim the lost money for her family, because it is the money they had to work very hard to get.

This incident is not only a normal act of "price gouging" but also a blatant exploitation of the situation and lack of knowledge of ethnic minorities about urban traffic, causing heavy financial and mental losses to those who are already suffering.

Notably, after the incident was widely spread on social media and caused great pressure from public opinion, a person claiming to be a relative of the taxi driver proactively texted Mr. Xuan Truong. This person expressed his desire to return the money he had taken from Ms. Mua’s family and apologized.

However, Mr. Xuan Truong firmly refused to receive the money directly. By the afternoon of June 15, he had arranged a bus to take the two victims back to Hanoi, directly to the police station to report the whole incident.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper, a leader of My Dinh 2 Ward Police, Nam Tu Liem District, Hanoi, confirmed that the unit is urgently investigating the incident.

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