Online Scam

[red_cherries76]

Hii all i had come across a Singaporean who was selling a Samsung Note 3 ,at $500 so i asked if it will be immediately delivery and the girl said yes, now not thinking that i am in for trouble, i made the payment over bank transfer.

And waited few hours for the delivery, i watsapp the girl and she told me the product is with customs and I need to pay another $250..

I sms her that i want a refund because this was not told earlier, I have ordered phone from J2 mobile before, and they collect the payment in cash when they deliver the phone. But now when this girl talks about customs , I am confused.

I told her that if she doesn't refund my $500 she messages me that you want to lose $500 ? or do you want to pay another $200 and get your phone.

I told her that i am going to make a police report and she says ok i will see you in court.

can anyone advise me what to do now ?

[Akimbo]

So sorry to hear that OP, but it does sound a lot like a scam...why does it need to go through "customs" to be given to you? Isn't the girl already in Singapore with the Note 3, like you? Where online did you buy it from? Any pictures? E-mails of the supposed transaction?

I've bought and sold in ebay, hwz, gumtree, almost all of them COD, except a few bank transfers from ebay sellers that are confirmed to be legit.

From what you've said above, all I can say for now is call her bluff and just go to court.

EDIT:

I just read again, so did you buy it from this J2 website? it looks to me that they're selling the Note 3 at $660 though.

[zzm9980]

Why oh why would you bank transfer money to someone without the product in hand?

Consider it an expensive lesson learned.

[sundaymorningstaple]

^^

If it were via eBay, I can think of several good reasons (and I'm a heavy eBay user). The biggest is the local penchant of buying something, arranging to pick it up (usually meeting somewhere like a MRT station, etc. and then once all is said and done, they want to try to get a further discount. I don't sell via eBay here unless it payment up front either by PayPal or Bank transfer. I do NOT do COD for the same reason. They will invariably whinge and or back out if you don't give them an additional discount. They don't seem to understand the concept of an auction.

[zzm9980]

Hmm hadn't considered eBay. In the US I would never use eBay unless it was from an established seller who had another presence (say online shop). I'd also use a credit card I could charge back against.

In Singapore, I've only ever bought things where I could show up and pay in cash. Quite often in the void deck for some 17yr old's HDB heh. I don't think I'd ever buy something here and pay first.

I've sold a few things and every time haven't had a problem. In fact, I'd say nearly every purchaser surprised me as being much more mature and nice than I expected. Not the typical vitriol spewing keyboard warrior from hardwarezone, but nice professionals. But I do tend to sell for an obvious discounted price (say 10% lower than everyone else) and put in very obvious *FIRM* disclaimers on the prices. Or maybe it was because I generally sell Apple products and the userbase is more mature

[Strong Eagle]

I delete at least one or two fraudulent posts a week, advertising real cheap phones and laptops. Too bad that the OP fell for one of these scams.

If it's too good to be true, then it's probably not true... OP succumbed to his/her own greed, trying to get a deal too good to be true.

[JR8]

I told her that i am going to make a police report and she says ok i will see you in court.
can anyone advise me what to do now ?

1) Go and file a police report
2) File a case at the Small Claims Tribunal
http://singaporelegaladvice.com/how-do- ... singapore/
'How do I make a small claim in the Small Claims Tribunal in Singapore?'

Couldn't be simpler ...but I wonder whether you can be bothered to go through with it. Her comment of 'ok i will see you in court' suggests she's entirely cool that you aren't. Over to you.

[PNGMK]

Op - do as JR8 says.

Before you go to the NPP print out copies of everything. the original ad, bank or payment transfer information, her SMS/email, her contact info.

The police here are trying to get on top of this sort of thing and do pursue it from what I see in the papers.

[Max Headroom]

She sounds like a pro. My guess is that she's a Malaysian hopping around in Singapore for just this purpose, i.e. ripping people off. Her phone is probably a pre-paid. I doubt that a Singaporean would be this cavalier.












Edit: The = Her.

[red_cherries76]

You can find her on Facebook under the name of Cheng Hui .. but her pic shows her of a married lady with a child....still want to cheat people ??

I tell you ,today she text me that her courier company accidentally packed 7 Apple i phone 6 and 3 Samsung mobiles and she text me saying that her boss wants me to pay $8500.00 deposit as they are afraid i won't return the phones when the delivery man comes.

I told her enuf of her shits ,i am going to make a police report.

[PNGMK]

You can find her on Facebook under the name of Cheng Hui .. but her pic shows her of a married lady with a child....still want to cheat people ??

I tell you ,today she text me that her courier company accidentally packed 7 Apple i phone 6 and 3 Samsung mobiles and she text me saying that her boss wants me to pay $8500.00 deposit as they are afraid i won't return the phones when the delivery man comes.

I told her enuf of her shits ,i am going to make a police report.

Please do. Also write / SMS her and demand a refund or the goods at the agreed price Do it at least three times and keep records.

Was this via the Singapore app Carousell?

[ecureilx]

You can find her on Facebook under the name of Cheng Hui .. but her pic shows her of a married lady with a child....still want to cheat people ??

I tell you ,today she text me that her courier company accidentally packed 7 Apple i phone 6 and 3 Samsung mobiles and she text me saying that her boss wants me to pay $8500.00 deposit as they are afraid i won't return the phones when the delivery man comes.

I told her enuf of her shits ,i am going to make a police report.

Please do. Also write / SMS her and demand a refund or the goods at the agreed price Do it at least three times and keep records.

Was this via the Singapore app Carousell?

my 2 cents, don't bother arguing / demanding etc

go to Police NoW .. this kind of scam was highlighted in a recent crime watch

do the report now than tomorrow ...