The Billionaire’s Handshake: A $2 Million Dollar Deal Between Pham Nhat Vuong and Artist Xuan Bac.

Recently, People’s Artist Xuan Bac and a number of other digital content creators participated in a program launched by the Department of Information Security (Ministry of Information and Communications) in collaboration with Meta and various ministries, sectors, localities, agencies, units, businesses, and social media platforms. This program served as the inaugural project for the “Identifying and Preventing Online Scams to Protect Citizens in Cyberspace in 2024” campaign.

After nearly a month, the “Identifying Scams” campaign has garnered strong support from the community. People’s Artist Xuan Bac shared his thoughts: “Scams on the internet have become commonplace these days. Most scams offer irresistible deals, preying on people’s greed. Anyone can fall victim to online scams, especially the elderly and those facing difficulties.”

This year’s collaboration with the Department of Information Security aims to further enhance the skills of Vietnamese citizens in identifying and countering online scamming activities. Meta is committed to preventing scamming activities that negatively impact users’ experiences, as well as promoting education on recognizing such behaviors.

According to a reporter from the Cong Thuong Newspaper on August 15, a Facebook fan page called “Showbiz Trending – Dua Tin 24h” published a post titled “Contract No. 1 – A $2 million deal between Pham Nhat Vuong and his protégé Xuan Bac for the brand he represents – Tomford.” The content of the post included a manipulated image of Vingroup’s Chairman, Pham Nhat Vuong, and People’s Artist Xuan Bac, falsely implying a collaboration.

In a conversation with the Cong Thuong Newspaper, a representative from Vingroup confirmed that there was no collaboration between the group, the perfume brand, and People’s Artist Xuan Bac. Vingroup emphasized that the unauthorized use of Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong’s image through manipulation and editing was intended to mislead consumers and facilitate fraudulent activities.

To make the post seem more convincing, the fan page also included a manipulated image of Vingroup’s Chairman, Pham Nhat Vuong, and People’s Artist Xuan Bac, falsely implying a collaboration or endorsement. As a result, the post attracted significant engagement, with over 1,300 likes, 138 comments, and 42 shares within just one day.

The post included a statement that read: “Tomford perfumes are on sale with discounts up to 65%, bringing the price down to just over $1 million per bottle.”

However, genuine Tomford perfumes are priced between $160 and over $400 for a 50ml bottle on the official Tomford Beauty website. For a 100ml bottle, the price ranges from $240 to $445. In contrast, the 100ml bottles offered by the aforementioned Facebook page were priced at just VND 945,000, raising questions about their authenticity.

The language used in the post also included statements such as: “The strong backing from Vingroup’s Chairman is creating significant price pressure in the market. When the rich make a move, it creates a seismic shift.”

Other statements included: “With this sale, Tomford will dominate the Vietnamese perfume market in the blink of an eye. No one can compete when it comes to price wars… With Pham Nhat Vuong’s support, even brands like Chanel, Dior, or even LV will have to take a back seat.”

On August 16, the Cong Thuong Newspaper contacted People’s Artist Xuan Bac’s representative, who stated that they were aware of the situation and emphasized: “This is a scam that takes advantage of People’s Artist Xuan Bac’s reputation and influence to sell products for profit. We strongly urge law enforcement agencies to intervene to prevent such incidents from recurring, as they blatantly violate image copyrights and consumer rights…”

The representative added: “The image used on that Facebook page is a manipulated one. The original image was from when People’s Artist Xuan Bac received an honorary title from the President, but it has been edited and manipulated…”

Additionally, they mentioned that “Recently, there have been numerous pages impersonating other organizations and scamming money from children, as well as using People’s Artist Xuan Bac’s name to charge fees for participation in certain programs…”

Lawyer Vo Dinh Duc, Deputy Director of the Southeast Asia Law Company (SEALAW), stated that according to Article 32 of the 2015 Civil Code, individuals have the right to their image and any use of their image requires their consent. In the case of using an individual’s image for commercial purposes, compensation must be paid to the person in the image, unless otherwise agreed upon.

Based on the statements from the artist Xuan Bac’s representative and Vingroup, it is evident that the aforementioned entities did not authorize the use of their images or endorsements. The manipulation and misrepresentation of their images were intended to attract attention and deceive thousands of people, which constitutes a violation of the law. Based on this, the authorities can intervene, investigate, and take appropriate action. Depending on the nature and severity of the consequences, the perpetrators may face administrative sanctions or even criminal liability.

Lawyer Vo Dinh Duc further explained that in terms of administrative sanctions, according to Clause 1, Article 101 of Decree 15/2020/ND-CP, which amends Clause 37, Article 1 of Decree 14/2022/ND-CP, the act of providing, sharing, or disseminating false information, misinformation, distorted information, slanderous content, or content that offends the honor, dignity, and reputation of agencies, organizations, and individuals on social media platforms can result in a fine ranging from VND 10 million to VND 20 million. Additionally, corrective measures may be imposed, such as forcing the removal of misinformation or content that violates the law.

Furthermore, in this case, it is necessary to investigate and verify whether the use of the images of others for fraudulent purposes constitutes the criminal offense of “fraudulent appropriation of property” under Article 174 of the 2015 Penal Code, as amended and supplemented in 2017. If convicted of this offense, the perpetrators may face imprisonment, ranging from several years to life imprisonment.