Categories of criminal offences involving false advertising and consumer interests: False advertising; Consumer deception

You place an order for an item on the internet. After receiving the goods, you realize that the item you received is not as advertised by the seller. It may be of lower quantity, lower quality, or even useless. This not only causes you to lose money, but also causes you to gradually lose faith in shopping through the internet.

For corporate customers, the receipt of goods or services that are not in accordance with the required quantity or quality has an impact not only on the financing and manufacturing process, but also the outcomes and prestigeof the enterprise in the performance of contracts with their partners.

Have you ever wondered:  Is there a way to penalize sellers who sell substandard goods/services or make false advertisements?  Is it possible to get your money back from such sellers? The answer is a definitive “Yes, always!”. However, not everyone is capable of defending themselves or are even aware of their rights and interests in these circumstances.

Pursuant to the provisions of Article 197 of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, any person who falsely advertises his/her goods or services despite the fact that he/she previously incurred an administrative sanction for the same offence or has a previous conviction for the same offence which has not been expunged from the file, shall be fined or face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community service. False advertising is defined as the intentional offering of an advertisement containing a false or misleading or deceptive statements regarding the name, quality, real value, or real use value, etc. of goods or services advertised to promote the sale of goods or services to the public. Such false advertising is considered to be a criminal offense even if there is no damage caused by the advertisement.

Furthermore, a seller may be liable for the crime of Customer deception if the seller engages in fraudulentweighing, measuring, counting, or calculating the quantity of goods or services, or engages in other devious methods to generate  illegal earnings.

In the event that your own legitimate rights and interests, or those of your business, have been substantially affected by false advertising or customer deception activities, and you don’t know how to handle it, contact Le &Tran immediately. With a wealth of experience in providing solutions to both individual and corporate clients, Le & Tran can quickly comprehend and provide efficient legal counsel to protect your rights and interests.