S’porean man allegedly involved in Pokémon card scams, victims who paid did not receive cards
A Singaporean man was allegedly behind at least 111 scams involving Pokémon trading cards over Carousell, with alleged victims losing at least S$80,000.
He was charged in court with cheating, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a news release on Tuesday (2 Dec).
Source: Thimo Pedersen on Unsplash. Photo for illustration purposes only.
Buyers never received Pokémon cards after paying
The 29-year-old man had advertised limited-edition Pokémon trading cards on Carousell which were available for pre-order, according to preliminary investigations.
But after buyers made payment via bank transfers, they never received the cards.
Source: Pokemon. Photo for illustration purposes only.
When the buyers questioned him, the man claimed that the delivery of the cards had been delayed and eventually did not respond to messages.
He was believed to be involved in at least 111 such cases. The alleged victims lost at least S$80,000 in total.
Netizens alerted about suspected Pokémon card scams
In a Facebook group for users from Singapore and Malaysia to discuss Pokémon trading cards, a user complained that a Carousell seller with the username @mrkwek had not fulfilled the delivery of an order for the “ME02” card set.
Source: Pokémon
“No delivery of goods, no refund. Now slow reply and still delaying,” the user wrote in the 1 Dec post.
Suspecting a scam, they intended to lodge a police report, asking other users to get in touch if they were in the same boat.
Source: Facebook
Additionally, the user suspected that @mrkwek had fake reviews on his Carousell profile, with a screenshot they shared showing that it had 1,435 reviews with an average rating of five stars.
One review from an alleged buyer claimed to have received the set.
Source: Facebook
One netizen in the group had been convinced by the positive reviews and made a pre-order, but now intended to make a police report as well.
Source: Facebook
In a similar Reddit community, a user found that the Carousell account had been “restricted due to an unresolved transaction“.
Source: Reddit
A commenter claimed that the account was “infamous” in the community and questioned why people still pre-ordered.
Source: Reddit
Checks by MS News revealed that the @mrkwek Carousell account has been deactivated.
Man charged with cheating on 3 Dec
SPF said officers from the Commercial Affairs Department established the identity of the man and arrested him on Monday (1 Dec).
On Wednesday (3 Dec), he was charged in court with cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871.
According to the SG Courts website, an individual named Eugene Kwek Yi Jun appeared at the State Courts at 9am.
Source: SG Courts
He was remanded, with his case set to be mentioned in court again on 10 Dec.
If convicted of cheating, he faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine.
Alleged victim paid S$1,800 via PayNow
According to court documents quoted by The Straits Times, Kwek allegedly scammed a victim into thinking that he had Pokémon trading cards for sale between 23 Oct and 1 Dec.
The alleged victim then paid S$1,800 via PayNow to another man named Desmond Wong.
The details of Desmond Wong were not stated in court documents.
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Featured image adapted from Thimo Pedersen on Unsplash and Pokemon Trading Card Games Singapore and Malaysia on Facebook. Photo on the left for illustration purposes only.
