Man arrested for online scams of more than $10,000

A 24-year-old man was arrested on Monday for his suspected involvement in a series of e-commerce scams amounting to more than $10,000.

The man was an online seller on Carousell, Rent in Singapore and Roomgo.

Between last December and last month, victims looking to buy items such as game consoles, mobile phones and cars, or rent rooms from him reported at least 26 cases of e-commerce scams when he became unreachable after they completed making their payments via bank transfers.

Officers from the Commercial Affairs Department were able to identify the man and arrested him on Monday.

He is scheduled to be charged in court today and he faces a fine and up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

The police would like to advise the public to bear in mind that they are dealing with strangers when shopping online, and they should find out how the online shopping platform can safeguard their interest or help them resolve disputes before making transactions.

They also advise buyers to insist on cash on delivery especially if they are responding to online classified advertisements.

If advance payments are required, using precautions such as using platforms that arrange for payments to be released to the seller only upon their receipt of the item is advised.

The public should also be mindful that the identification card or driver's license, as well as the local bank account provided by sellers to enhance credibility might not belong to them.

For more information on scams, visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam hotline at 1800-722-6688.

Anyone with information on such scams may call the Police hotline at 1800-225-0000.

This article was first published in The New Paper. Permission required for reproduction.