S’porean pumps S$108K into ‘dropshipping’ after seeing ad, fails to recover money

Woman invests S$108k into ‘online shop’, fails to recover a single cent after suspected scam

A 57-year-old woman in Singapore poured over S$108,000 into what she believed was a legitimate dropshipping business, after responding to an advertisement for “fast extra income” on TikTok.

She said that she filled in her details after clicking the ad, and was contacted on 18 Oct 2025 by a man named “William”, who explained the supposed business model.

Despite managing to withdraw her earnings twice, she ended up losing the over S$108,000 sum eventually.

“William” urged her to pay S$10,000 more to get her money back, but she did not do so after her relatives dissuaded her.

Early transactions appeared successful

According to Shin Min Daily News (SMDN), the woman was told that she would act as a middleman, placing orders with “suppliers” on behalf of “customers”.

She would have to pay the cost upfront, then recover the amount together with a commission once the transaction was marked as complete.

Using the website link provided by William, she registered an account and uploaded products to her “store”.

At the beginning, she received small “orders” of a few hundred dollars.

“I transferred the money within the specified time,” she said.

“After the order was completed, I successfully withdrew the commission and the prepayment twice.”

Encouraged, she began completing higher-value orders.

Soon, order amounts reached the five-figure range, and she exhausted her savings.

To keep up, she borrowed from family, friends, banks, licensed moneylenders and through credit cards.

Fined after being told her ‘credit limit’ was insufficient

Her trouble began when she attempted to withdraw her funds.

She was told that she had exceeded the allotted timeframe, her “credit limit” was insufficient, and she needed to top up more money to withdraw her funds.

When she complied, she was hit with a “fine” of nearly S$30,000, allegedly for not completing a transaction within the required time.

Without paying the fine, the money in the account could not be released.

Man urged her to pay the fine

The victim said that she had met William at a shopping mall, SMDN reported.

He told her he was a 36-year-old architect from Penang, working in Singapore, and doing “dropshipping” on the side.

“When I asked why I couldn’t withdraw the money, he said that no one else had encountered this problem,” said the woman.

She added that William had once even “helped” her by advancing a payment. He claimed she was a “newcomer” and he wanted to support her until she withdrew her earnings.

He told her that he had “paid” about S$19,000 of her fine and urged her to pay the remaining S$10,000 to get the money back.

However, after strong dissuasion from relatives and friends, she did not transfer further funds.

In total, she invested about S$108,000, but has not received any money back.

‘I didn’t want to accept that it was a scam’

She added that the platform’s “customer service” directed her to transfer funds through cryptocurrency channels for both top-ups and withdrawals.

According to SMDN, the woman made a police report after being unable to withdraw her funds for a period of time.

With a monthly salary of slightly more than S$2,000, she is only able to “pay off the debt slowly”.

“Everyone around me told me it was a scam,” she said. “I was heartbroken that I couldn’t get my money back.”

“Even though I had my doubts, I still didn’t want to accept that it was a scam, and I still wanted my money back.”

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) told MS News that they confirm that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

MS News has reached out to TikTok for comment.

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