Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - About 30,000 e-commerce stores were taken down in the firstnine months of this year due to trade fraud, counterfeit and contraband goods,and the scale of the problem is looking daunting.

Le Duc Anh, Directorof the Centre for Information and Digital Technology under the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade, said that consumers had changed their traditional shoppinghabits and switched to online more over the past five years,especially after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, thefact that stores were selling counterfeit and contraband goods had causedconsumer confidence to fall on e-commerce platforms.

This isclearly shown by the numbers of cases authorities have detected and punished.Specifically, e-commerce inspectors, together with market management forces,had checked over 2,400 cases and handled over 2,200 e-commerce violations, whileissuing fines of nearly 17 billion VND (730,500 USD).

The VietnamE-commerce and Digital Economy Agency co-operated with the Vietnam Competitionand Consumer Protection Authority and the Department of Cyber Security andHigh-tech Crime Prevention under the Ministry of Public Security toinvestigate suspected violators and fined them 173 million VND in thefirst nine months of this year.

The Ministryof Industry and Trade said that it had asked e-commerce platforms toreview and remove nearly 223,600 online stores and more than one millionproducts this year, handling over 30,000 stores with nearly 48,000product violations.

In addition,the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency has sent warnings tousers about online fraud.

Counterfeitgoods are threatening people's livelihoods, as well as affecting thereputation of genuine businesses.

Expertssaid they had received hundreds of complaints from consumers aboutcommercial fraud on e-commerce platforms. They mainly involved peoplepaying for their goods but not receiving them, poor quality products andservices, and stolen personal information.

Informationtheft, financial fraud and disturbing advertisements were the sad reality ofe-commerce in Vietnam today, said experts.

Economist VoTri Thanh said that handling violations was very difficult as inspectingand tracking "virtual enterprises” was not so simple.

Meanwhile,sanctioning stopped at administrative punishments, but the profitssome firms were making were very high, so violations remained rampant.

The Ministryof Industry and Trade said that in order to handle the problem of counterfeitgoods, tighten trading on e-commerce platforms and enhance consumer trust,it had been studying and preparing a draft amendment for Decree 52. Thedraft would introduce stricter regulations for mandatory informationfor companies that operated on e-commerce platforms, increasedresponsibility for shop owners, and regulations for social networks onwhich e-commerce transactions took place, along with stiffer penalties.

Forconsumers to truly trust online channels, experts said stores needed to restoreconfidence and improve the quality of goods and accompanying services suchas delivery and dispute resolution./.