Taxis rip off unwary foreigners at city airport
Print 
Many foreign visitors to Ho Chi Minh City last year fell victim to taxi drivers who overcharged them and stole things they left behind, police said.
“There were nearly 10 complaints against taxis in 2010,” said Senior Lieutenant-Colonel Pham Cong Nghia, police chief of Ward 2, Tan Binh District, said.
“The actual number must have been higher since some did not report to the police.”
Lihesheng, a Chinese national, arrived at Tan Son Nhat International Airport and took a cab to a hotel in Ward 2.
On reaching the hotel, he told the driver he wanted to go to another place after checking in, and asked him to wait. When he came out a few minutes later, the cab had disappeared with his laptop, camera, and personal papers.
Kirill Perepletov, a Russian, forgot his bag with $4,700, 2,000 euros ($2,598), and two digital cameras.
He rang the taxi company, but the driver denied finding anything. The Tan Binh District police are investigating.
“Taxi drivers did not return belongings left behind by passengers and even blamed the next passengers,” Lieutenant Tran Thanh Sang of the district police said.
Phan Le Hoan, director of the Tan Son Nhat Operation Center, said taxi scams do not occur inside the airport thanks to the close watch kept by security guards and traffic inspectors.
“However, drivers fleece passengers once they are outside the airport. Some have even attacked or insulted passengers outside.”
The Japanese Business Association of HCMC called on the city People’s Committee and the Department of Traffic to crack down on taxi frauds at the airport following constant complaints by Japanese businesspeople.
Hoan said: “We have requested taxi companies to give passengers leaflets bearing the driver’s name and company hotline from January 1st.”
