Carousell buyer scams couple of savings for daughter who has special needs
A Singaporean man lost the savings he had set aside for his daughter with special needs to a scammer on Carousell.
The man, who goes by Wak Yan on Facebook, posted a detailed account of his ordeal on Dec 24.
His wife posted a $15 listing for a money box and received a response from a keen buyer. Curiously, the buyer wanted to arrange for Carousell Pay Protection, which would ensure they get a refund if the product doesn’t arrive or is damaged.
Though purchasing insurance for a $15 item seemed strange, the wife thought that perhaps the buyer may have been scammed before.
The buyer then informed Yan’s wife that payment had been made, adding that for her to receive the money, she’d have to click on an e-mail link.
Yan received the link in his junk e-mail, and without verifying, clicked on it. The following page instructed him to log into his bank account. He clicked accordingly and what appeared to be DBS iBanking’s login page popped up.
He logged in to a loading page which stated it was waiting for a response from the bank. Shortly after, a chat box appeared on the page, telling him to “change his account”.
Prompted by this, his wife then logged into her own account, upon which Yan’s phone requested a one-time password – which his wife provided.
"When my wife checked on the bank transaction, her face changed," wrote Yan in the post.
"She said to me in a shaky voice: Abang... kita dah tak ada duit. Duit Husna semua hilang!" (Dear... we don't have any more money! Husna's savings are gone!)
The couple saw that their funds had been remitted in Thai baht to a woman in Thailand. It was not stated just how much was lost.
They called DBS immediately, and were informed that they were likely scammed.
The couple then messaged the buyer, accusing him of being a scammer – to which the buyer mysteriously replied: “SPS.”
Though a police report was later lodged, Yan acknowledged that the chances of them getting back the money were slim to none.
Nevertheless, he urged both Carousell buyers and sellers to be aware of such scammers, describing his experience as a painful lesson learnt.
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