While scammers are utilising increasingly convincing tactics nowadays, there are still some tricks you can see right through like glass.
Such as this Facebook listing from a woman selling her used items for cheap because she and her husband are moving to… Pulau Tekong.
As in, the Pulau Tekong where our young recruits go for their Basic Military Training (BMT)? We can think of no other.
Source: Singapore blessing give away group on Facebook
Needless to say, Singaporeans were immediately able to identify it as a scam and made all kinds of jokes online.
On Friday (12 April), Facebook user “Katrina rose” took to the ‘Singapore blessing give away group’ to post a list of used items she was selling at low prices.
The list included two Louis Vuitton bags, two MacBook Air laptops, an electric scooter, a Crolan bicycle, as well as several kitchen appliances and furniture.
Source: PCMag, for illustration purposes only
In her caption, she wrote:
My husband and I will be moving to Pulau Tekong and we cannot possibly carry some of our things with us.
Either they’re both enlisting for National Service (NS) together or there are residential estates on the island that nobody was aware of before.
Source: Basic Military Training Centre Media Team via TheSmartLocal
Both seem highly unlikely.
The caption ends with “Katrina rose” saying that receipts and warranties are available.
Interested parties — likely those not familiar with the purpose of Pulau Tekong — should inform her if they can pick up the items themselves or if they need them delivered.
It wasn’t long before the suspicious listing became the butt of jokes.
Several users scoffed that if you want to scam someone, the least you could do is do your research to make your post more believable.
Source: Facebook
This netizen cheekily remarked that he just got his BTO on Pulau Bukom, a restricted-access island that houses an integrated oil and petrochemicals site.
Source: Facebook
Someone said perhaps Pulau Hantu might’ve been a better place to live.
Source: Facebook
Scams like this often involve the supposed seller asking interested buyers to place a deposit to reserve the item, only for the former to disappear with the latter’s money without actually delivering anything.
Last year, the police warned users to be wary of fraudulent advertisements on Facebook after at least 21 victims lost more than S$210,000 to such scams.
Also read: Family Loses More Than S$2,500 To Cruise Scam Involving Travel Company With Fake S’pore Offices
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Featured image adapted from The Singapore Army on Facebook and Singapore blessing give away group on Facebook.
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