An elderly man in Singapore was allegedly scammed of his Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers while buying lunch at a mixed rice stall in Redhill.
On Tuesday (5 Aug), the victim’s child took to the Singapore Subreddit to share about the alleged scam.
The victim’s child, who posted under the username Automatic_Win_6256, said their father did not know how to use a smartphone.
Hence, they had collected the CDC vouchers in paper form from the community centre.
Last Saturday (2 Aug), the father went out for lunch alone and ordered a S$6.50 meal from a mixed rice stall. He then handed a S$5 CDC voucher to the cashier for payment.
The cashier scanned the voucher, but told him it was no longer valid as it had already been used. The elderly man proceeded to hand over a second S$5 voucher, which was allegedly rejected for the same reason.
The cashier then asked for a third voucher. At this point, the elderly man sensed that something was amiss.
However, as he was alone and unsure how to verify the situation, he eventually paid in cash and left.
Upon hearing about the incident, the original poster (OP) went online to check their father’s CDC voucher account.
To their shock, both vouchers had been successfully redeemed at the stall. The vouchers were redeemed a minute after each other.
This meant that the OP’s father had effectively paid S$16.50 for a meal that cost S$6.50. The OP has since lodged a police report but is unsure if there was sufficient evidence.
Source: Automatic_Win_6256 on Reddit
However, police officers allegedly told them that there had been “many such cases”.
The OP also shared that they believed many seniors might “let this pass” since the sums involved are not significant. They could also let it slide to avoid inconvenience.
“I feel I have to expose such scammers, otherwise, more elderly people will fall victim to these scammers,” the OP wrote.
The post has drawn concern from netizens, with some thanking the OP for exposing the “unethical” stall.
Source: Reddit
Another commenter pointed out that the alleged scam is not just unethical, but is against the law.
Source: Reddit
Meanwhile, this user urged the OP to report the incident to CDC so they can take the necessary actions against the “errant” stall.
Source: Reddit
MS News has reached out to the OP for more information on the case.
Also read: Woman in S’pore pays for date with CDC vouchers, man allegedly says it’s ‘embarrassing’
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Featured image adapted from @Automatic_Win_6256 on Reddit and Eatbook. Picture on the right is for illustration purposes only.