China warns citizens to beware of fraud when shopping for electronics in S'pore
PUBLISHED ONNovember 06, 2014 7:13 AM
SINGAPORE - Chinese tourists heading to Singapore have been warned to be careful when buying expensive electronic products such as mobile phones here.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs put up a notice from its Singapore embassy on its consular services website on Wednesday, urging tourists who plan to buy expensive electronic products to look out for warning notices in the mall about certain retailers, and to avoid the retailers that have received complaints.
The notice refered to "multiple cases of Chinese tourists defrauded last year", and advised Chinese citizens to be cautious of fraud.
Electronics malls Sim Lim Square has been in the news recently after a mobile phone shop there tried to refund a Chinese customer $1,010 in coins last week.
The same shop was in the news again this week when a Vietnamese tourist went down on his knees to beg for a refund. He had paid $950 for an iPhone 6, but was stopped from leaving the shop with the phone if he did not pay another $1,500 for "warranty" for the phone.
The Consumer Association of Singapore and the management of Sim Lim Square had put up notices in the mall, listing retailers that had received numerous complaints.
sinsh@sph.com.sg