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How cruel to exploit people's fear of stroke to get rich
🇻🇳 Vietnam /Crime & Justice

How cruel to exploit people's fear of stroke to get rich

From Tuổi Trẻ · (1h ago) Vietnamese Critical tone

Translated from Vietnamese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • A therapy center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is accused of exploiting people's fear of stroke to sell expensive treatment packages.
  • The center allegedly used fear-mongering tactics, claiming high risks of stroke for conditions like neck and shoulder pain, prompting customers to buy costly 'deep muscle release' sessions.
  • Following media reports, the center's online presence vanished, and its physical location was dismantled, suggesting an immediate response to the allegations.

A disturbing trend has emerged in Ho Chi Minh City, where a therapy center, identified as T.T. Therapy Center, stands accused of preying on the public's deep-seated fear of strokes to enrich itself. Reports indicate that the center employed aggressive and manipulative sales tactics, diagnosing clients with severe conditions and high stroke risks based on minor ailments like neck and shoulder pain, then pushing expensive treatment packages.

Trời ơi, mình vừa mới đi chỗ này về, bữa giờ cũng nghi nghi lừa đảo rồi. Tới nơi cũng được một bạn nữ đưa lên gặp bác sĩ và cũng bị nói y chang vậy luôn. Họ kêu chân cao thấp, rồi tùm lum bệnh hết, xong tư vấn mua liệu trình mười mấy triệu. May mình tỉnh táo kêu đi 4 buổi thôi coi hết không rồi mua tiếp. Mình đã mất 3,2 triệu đồng mà có hết đâu

— Reader leng****Sharing a personal experience of being misled by the center's sales tactics and ultimately diagnosed with a less severe condition.

Customers have come forward, expressing outrage and detailing how they were pressured into purchasing multi-session treatment plans costing tens of millions of Vietnamese dong. Many felt deceived, later discovering through proper medical examinations that their ailments were far less severe, such as tendonitis or shoulder ligament inflammation, and not the imminent stroke threats they were led to believe.

Trời ơi, mình vừa mới đi chỗ này về, bữa giờ cũng nghi nghi lừa đảo rồi. Tới nơi cũng được một bạn nữ đưa lên gặp bác sĩ và cũng bị nói y chang vậy luôn. Họ kêu chân cao thấp, rồi tùm lum bệnh hết, xong tư vấn mua liệu trình mười mấy triệu. May mình tỉnh táo kêu đi 4 buổi thôi coi hết không rồi mua tiếp. Mình đã mất 3,2 triệu đồng mà có hết đâu

— Reader leng****Sharing a personal experience of being misled by the center's sales tactics and ultimately diagnosed with a less severe condition.

This alleged exploitation of health anxieties has understandably caused significant public outcry. Readers have voiced their anger and called for swift action from authorities, highlighting the ethical bankruptcy of using fear as a sales strategy, particularly when targeting vulnerable individuals concerned about their health. The sentiment is clear: this is not healthcare, but a calculated scam.

Đây rõ ràng là những chiêu trò thổi phồng bệnh tật để đánh vào tâm lý sợ hãi của người dân, đặc biệt là người lớn tuổi

— Reader AnExpressing the opinion that the center's practices are designed to exploit people's fear of illness.

In a swift response to the media's exposure of these practices, the T.T. Therapy Center appears to have vanished. Their TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube pages are no longer accessible, and the physical location in Go Vap District has been dismantled. While this may temporarily remove the immediate threat, it underscores the need for stronger regulatory oversight to prevent such predatory schemes from surfacing again and causing further distress and financial harm to the public.

bác sĩ thật sự không bao giờ dùng lời lẽ dọa dẫm để ép khách đóng tiền

— Reader VyStating that genuine doctors do not use intimidation to secure payments.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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