At least three more businesses have been allegedly targeted in bulk order scams, with scammers posing as school staff and asking for unrelated products.
One of the affected businesses, HaPiHa, a Mediterranean restaurant in Dover, reportedly received a “fake school event booking” from someone claiming to be from Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (SCGS).
However, the individual “vanished” after the restaurant turned down their request.
In an Instagram carousel post, HaPiHa shared that they received the call last Thursday (11 Sept).
Source: Hapiha.com
The person claimed they wanted to cater for a three-day event and opted for the restaurant’s S$70 menu.
The next day, the restaurant received a call from the same person, asking them to buy a mattress for the “event”. The ‘customer’ even promised to transfer the money for the purchase later on.
Having been warned about similar scams, the restaurant refused, and the alleged SCGS staff member “vanished”.
Speaking to MS News, Klevis, the owner of HaPiHa, expressed disappointment over the incident, calling it a “waste of time” for small businesses.
Even though they did not fall for the scam, Klevis decided to share the scammer’s number on social media to raise awareness.
To prevent similar scams, he advised fellow business owners to request a deposit or full payment when dealing with non-regular customers.
Channel NewsAsia (CNA) spoke to two other business owners who received similar bulk orders from scammers impersonating SCGS staff members.
Mr Russel Koh, the owner of bedding company Simply Dreams, realised they were dealing with a scammer after seeing the Instagram post by HaPiHa.
In Mr Koh’s case, the scammer expressed interest in 30 bedding sets, claiming they were gifts for teachers.
After getting in touch with Klevis, Mr Koh realised that the scammers went by the same name in both their WhatsApp chats.
Ping, the owner of Nabayla — a fruit and vegetable stall — recalled receiving an order worth S$4,080 for grapes and durians.
A few days later, the alleged scammer asked for 40 mattresses, claiming they were for an old folks’ home.
The stall owner rejected the request, explaining that mattresses were not part of her trade.
MS News has reached out to SCGS for a statement regarding these incidents.
In a press release earlier this week, the police stated that there have been at least five cases of bulk order scams involving the impersonation of personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
Losses from these scams amounted to at least S$32,000.
Three people were also arrested for their suspected involvement in such scams.
Also read: 16-year-old teen among 3 arrested for bulk order impersonation scams
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Featured image adapted from HaPiHa and @hapi_ha on Instagram.