SINGAPORE: At least 168 people were cheated in the past month while trying to buy expensive and seasonal food items online, the police said on Monday (Mar 6).
Since February, a total of at least S$20,000 has been lost to scammers advertising items like seafood, black gold musang king durian, cherries and wagyu beef.
The police said they had received reports lodged against allegedly fraudulent Facebook pages such as Grocery Retail, Department Store, Juewei Food, Baihui Mall and Ocean Fishery Exchange.
Investigations are ongoing.
“The police would like to remind the public to be discerning when shopping online, especially when ordering pricey and seasonal food items through online platforms,” it said.
Scammers involved in these incidents pretend to be “sellers” and entice victims by posting offers or sponsored advertisements of food items on online platforms such as Facebook, police said.
Victims interested in the deals would then contact the “sellers” directly via Facebook Messenger.
After confirming the price and order details, the “seller” would instruct the victim to make payment to his or her bank account via PayNow.
Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they did not receive the goods or if the “seller” becomes uncontactable.
In July 2021, victims of a phishing scam involving purported false advertisements on the sale of crabs lost more than S$15,000.