Scams have become quite common these days, with various iterations propping up with frightening regularity.
One such incident that has gone viral on social media is an alleged hotel reservation scam involving a hotel room broker who offered to book hotel rooms on behalf of their customers for a cut price.
Victims of this scam banded together and, through social media platforms, called out the woman for being the mastermind of the operation.
Through testimonies collated by a local podcaster, the total amount of money collected from this scam had amounted to approximately $500,000.
At the time of writing, many of these victims have submitted police reports. Here’s what we know of the latest developments.
News of the alleged scam went viral on 15 Dec, after various posts attempted to bring attention to the operation spread like wildfire on the Internet.
These posts all alluded to a particular Instagram user as the main perpetrator.
According to one of these Facebook posts, victims would allegedly pay this woman a certain amount for a discounted hotel room.
Although they received a confirmation number, these reservations weren’t reflected in the hotel’s booking system.
However, there was a time when she could uphold her end of the deal successfully.
Vouched for by many key opinion leaders in the Malay community in Singapore, her business seemed to have boomed as a result.
A Singaporean podcaster, Dzar Ismail, collated testimonies from the scam victims in an attempt to get to the bottom of the scam.
Mr Dzar Ismail then asked victims to send him an Instagram message containing the amount of money lost and packages booked.
He estimated that the scammer had allegedly collected over $500,000 in the form of hotel booking payments.
He then implored the scam victims to lodge police reports and tell their stories online to bring awareness to the scam.
Speculation is rife with how she managed to keep her alleged scam running. As mentioned before, there was a time that the operation was successful.
A popular theory was that she booked hotel rooms with a staff rate.
However, another theory suggested that she utilised elements of a Ponzi scheme instead.
Ultimately, at this moment, it is unclear how the operations worked behind the scenes.
MS News has reached out to the Instagram account in question for comment, and we’ve yet to receive a response at press time.
Staycations are a popular form of relaxation for most Singaporeans and one that even families can enjoy together.
It must be a terrible feeling for many of these victims. Many of whom are parents when they break the news to their children.
Hopefully, the authorities can get to the bottom of the scam.
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Featured image adapted from booking.com.
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