$1.3m hotel room scam: Woman handed 283 cheating charges
A woman who allegedly duped multiple people in a series of e-commerce scams involving hotel room package bookings was handed 283 cheating charges on Aug 2.
Farah Diyanah Abdul Falik, 34, is said to be involved in a case where more than 900 of such bookings were not fulfilled, and the alleged victims lost more than $1.3 million in total.
Among other things, she is accused of cheating a woman in 2021.
Farah allegedly duped her into believing that a room reservation would be made for some time between August and December 2021, for a three-day, two-night stay at The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore.
The woman then reportedly transferred $4,400 to Farah through PayNow.
Farah is also said to have cheated another woman $2,678 in July 2021.
She allegedly deceived her into believing that a room reservation would be made for Oct 8 to 10 that year at the Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa.
The police said in an earlier statement that from mid-December 2021 to December 2022, officers received several reports about a seller who allegedly cheated multiple people after offering discounted hotel room booking packages via an undisclosed social media platform.
The police added: “After payments were made by the victims through bank transfers and PayNow, they allegedly failed to receive the bookings.
“Through follow-up investigations, officers from the Anti-Scam Command established the identity of the woman and arrested her for the offence of cheating.”
Farah’s case will be mentioned again in court on Aug 30.
For each count of cheating, an offender can be jailed for up to 10 years and fined.
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