PUBLISHED ONAugust 24, 2022 3:59 AMByChing Shi JieIn what seemed like something straight out of a spy movie, several women have complained of a stranger approaching them with a hidden recording device.
Taking to TikTok last Sunday (Aug 21), username Coffee_and_sesame shared a "public service announcement" for students who are returning their graduation gowns at Serangoon Broadway located along Serangoon Road.
Urging those in the area to be wary of a man who loiters outside Potong Pasir MRT station nearby, the TikTok user said: "He'll ask you to do a survey. Please ignore.
"He wears thick black spectacles with no lens. And if you look closely, there's a camera at the side."
The same man was previously seen near the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Singapore Management University before, Coffee_and_sesame posted.
She added in the video captions that she has also seen the man loitering around Kent Ridge MRT station and urged girls to contact the campus security if they see him hanging around the university.
With the video garnering over 150,000 views, several netizens were creeped out by the man's appearance.
"Oh my God please stay safe," a netizen said, while another claimed she had done the survey allegedly with the same man after returning her gown at Serangoon Broadway.
Other netizens also recounted their past experiences of allegedly seeing the man near their schools.
In a TikTok video shared on the same day (Aug 21), username Vixpinkaaay said that when she was a freshman at NUS years ago, a stranger approached her outside Kent Ridge MRT station about a survey.
"He asked me if I'm joining any orientation programmes, and I was like 'this was very weird'", the woman said, adding that she also gave him her birth date, mobile number and email address.
In the two-minute video, Vixpinkaaay shared screenshots of messages that the man sent to her, which includes wishing her a Happy New Year and Valentine's Day.
The TikToker user said: "It started getting weirder, so I blocked him.
"If it's the same person, It's quite terrifying knowing that he has been doing this to so many girls."
Speaking to AsiaOne on Tuesday (Aug 23), a staff from Serangoon Broadway, who declined to give her name, said that she had not seen or heard about this man before.
But "representatives from competitors" have been approaching students near their photo studio for years, she claimed. "We would usually chase these people out and ask the students not to give their personal details."
There have been previous incidents of people exhibiting creepy behaviour near schools.
In May last year, a 44-year-old man was arrested for allegedly stalking students at the Singapore Management University (SMU).
Several students had accused him of taking photos of female students, the Straits Times reported.
And in May 2017, a 41-year-old man was caught using his mobile phone to secretly record videos of students from girl's schools in Bukit Timah.
ALSO READ: 'Viral marketing nonsense': Speech Academy Asia apologises for clown stunt outside primary schools