Victims alleged that they did not receive their purchases after paying a seller who listed items such as mobile phones and game consoles on Carousell. — Photo by rupixen.com on Unsplash
SINGAPORE: A 21-year-old man has been arrested for his suspected involvement in a series of ecommerce scams, the police said on Wednesday (Jan 26).
Preliminary investigations revealed that the man is believed to have cheated over 23 victims of more than S$27,000 (RM84,031).
The police said they received several reports from victims who were purportedly cheated by a seller who listed electronic items such as mobile phones and game consoles at discounted prices on online marketplace Carousell.
They alleged that the seller did not deliver the items after they paid him.
Working with Carousell, officers from the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) established the identity of the man and arrested him on Wednesday.
The man will be charged in court on Thursday with cheating. If convicted, he can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
The issue of scams has been in the spotlight recently, after a slew of high-profile scams recently.
Nearly 470 people had fallen victim to the SMS phishing scams involving OCBC in December 2021, with total losses amounting to at least S$8.5mil (RM26.45mil).
The Supreme Court and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (Iras) have also warned of phishing scams.
Members of the public should be very careful when making online purchases, the police said.
For example, they can opt to use payment options that release payment to the seller only upon delivery, and avoid making advance payments or direct bank transfers to the seller whenever possible.
“Scammers may entice buyers to contact them directly through messaging platforms such as WhatsApp or WeChat by offering a better or faster deal if bank transfer payments are made directly to them,” the police said.
Scammers may also use a local bank account or provide a copy of a NRIC or a driver’s licence to give the impression that they are genuine sellers. – The Straits Times (Singapore)/Asia News Network
