If something is too good to be true, then most likely it is really too good to be true sia.
One woman in Singapore saw an advertisement selling Mao Shan Wang durian online at $6 per kg. As a durian lover, she didn’t give too much thought about the legitimacy of such a wonderful deal and got lured into downloading a third-party mobile application. The move caused her to lose more than $50,000, leaving only $7 in her bank account.
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The victim Mdm Xu, who is a 50-year-old housewife, told the reporter that she had seen advertisements from durian sellers on Facebook from time to time in the past few weeks. And because she was craving durians, she reached out to them last Thursday (4 May).
She contacted online durian seller “TMZ Fresh” to ask about the price as she was planning to purchase some to enjoy with the family.
“The online durian seller replied to me a few hours later and quoted me $6 per kg for Mao Shan Wang durian and $3 per kg for D24 durian. They told me they are currently having a promotion,” said Mdm Xu.
She then asked the seller how to place the order, the delivery time, and other details. The other party reportedly asked her for her mobile phone number, claiming that another staff from customer service would follow up with her.
“Later, a man with a Malaysian accent contacted me. He told me to download an app called ‘E2 Mall’ and asked me to enter my personal details to apply for membership. He also said that he would send me the durians later. I did what I was told, but my payment kept getting declined,” she added.
According to Zaobao, Mdm Xu later followed the instructions of the “customer service staff” and went to the bank on Saturday (6 May) to get a digital token. She also entered her bank information into the application, not knowing that she was falling into the scammer’s trap step by step.
On Sunday evening (7 May), she logged into her banking application as she was about to make a payment to buy food using her PayNow app. And to her horror, she found that more than $50,000 was missing from her account, leaving only $7. She was so scared, she immediately called the police and notified the bank, but it was too late.
“I found out that on Saturday, there were two unauthorized transactions. The first one was $27,549, and the second one was $26,231. These are my life savings,” she said.
In response to queries, the police confirmed that a report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.
