There is undoubtedly a very high demand for luxury products in Singapore. Donning such items is often considered a wealth or status symbol, and some people go to great lengths to secure the trendiest designer bags and watches.
Unfortunately, many unscrupulous characters have also decided to take advantage of this situation to make a quick and dirty buck.
In the latest incident, about 200 people in Singapore were purportedly left hanging after trusting a young couple with their money to help them buy branded goods at a supposedly lower price.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The buyers suddenly became uncontactable last month while still owing their customers items worth over S$32 million.
According to Shin Min Daily News, around 200 customers had paid a young married couple more than S$32 million over the past six months to help them purchase luxury bags and watches.
However, instead of delivering the items as promised, the pair suddenly became uncontactable.
One customer, 37-year-old Mr Huang, told the Chinese daily that he started following the couple on Instagram last year.
They once helped him buy a Rolex timepiece for S$26,000 and sent it to his home a month later. After confirming that the watch was authentic, Mr Huang – surname transliterated from Chinese – decided to trust the buyers and placed more orders earlier this year.
From January to February, he ordered six Rolex and Patek Philippe watches worth a total of S$700,000.
Mr Huang said the price the couple offered was 10% lower than the market price, so it was “very worth it”.
When the watches still hadn’t arrived after many months, he contacted the couple for an explanation, and they added him to a Telegram group in end-June.
It was then that Mr Huang learned that many other customers had not received their orders.
Another customer, 29-year-old Ms Zhang, told Shin Min Daily News that she ordered a S$20,000 Rolex from the couple for a friend in May.
Source: Yash Parashar on Unsplash. For illustration purposes only.
The couple told her they got the items from Switzerland and could deliver them in two weeks. However, like Mr Huang, she has yet to get her hands on the watch.
Ms Zhang added that two university graduates had reached out to her about being in similar predicaments.
One bought S$40,000 worth of designer handbags and hoped to flip them for a profit to pay off student loans, while the other spent S$60,000 on watches. Neither of them has received their goods.
A self-employed person, also surnamed Huang, shared that he saw the couple’s listings on Carousell and purchased three Rolex watches for S$78,000 in June.
When the buyers failed to deliver the products, the 50-year-old lodged a police report. He added that his request for a refund was unsuccessful. The couple also did not respond to any of his enquiries.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
The other Mr Huang and Ms Zhang have brought the matter to the authorities and hope they will look into it.
All three customers said that there are almost 200 others still waiting for their items. The total value of the goods is estimated to be at least S$32 million.
When contacted by Shin Min Daily News, the police confirmed that they had received reports and that the case is currently under investigation.
When the couple did reply to Mr Huang’s enquiry earlier, they claimed that the war in Ukraine would be causing a delay of one to three months.
As for Ms Zhang, they told her the products had already arrived in Singapore, but they were still dealing with customs clearance issues.
Mr Huang told Shin Min Daily News that when some customers in the Telegram group threatened to call the authorities, the couple said only those who did not file a police report would receive their goods.
To track down the couple, Shin Min Daily News reporters headed to a Tanjong Pagar shop registered under the man’s name on Sunday (10 Jul).
Not only was it closed, but other tenants in the area said that nobody had come to open the store for the past four or five days.
Reporters also visited the couple’s landed house at Holland Road on Saturday (9 Jul) night, but nobody was there.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Neighbours said they hadn’t seen the pair for the past week. They shared that the couple, who moved in a year ago, sometimes held parties but hardly interacted with other residents.
They added that about a week ago, four or five men came knocking on the couple’s door and shouting for them. The group left after waiting for about an hour.
We can’t imagine how the customers must feel, potentially losing so much money to alleged scammers.
Hopefully, the police will get to the bottom of things and help get all their funds back, or the couple will miraculously reappear and finally deliver the products.
Perhaps this can also serve as a lesson to only buy items from legitimate and trustworthy sources, especially if the products are worth tens of thousands of dollars.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Facebook.
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