Scammed Boon Lay hawker inspires anti-scam cup campaign
On four occasions, a customer patronised a roast duck stall at Boon Lay Place Market hawker centre, each time ordering $50 worth of dishes.
When stall owner Wang Mei Xiang checked her bank account several days later, she found that only $50 had been paid, instead of $200.
She later realised the customer had taken a screenshot of his phone the first time he paid $50, then used the same image to trick her into believing he had transferred the money each time.
The incident compelled Mr Anthony Low, the vice-president of the Federation of Merchants’ Association (FMA), to warn hawkers and the public about scams.
He decided to do this by partnering the police to design porcelain cups that feature the new ScamShield helpline number – which has been shortened to 1799 – and a QR code linked to the ScamShield website. The helpline is available 24/7 to offer immediate support to anyone who needs assistance in verifying potential scams.
The helpline is part of the ScamShield Suite, launched in September, and is an expansion of the ScamShield app, which blocks suspicious calls and SMSes and a consolidation of anti-scam measures.
On Oct 5, 960 of these cups were given out to the hawker centre’s 10 drinks stalls, to be used for their customers. The media was invited on Oct 22 to help publicise the initiative and to find out the response.
Madam Wang, 63, said the incident happened three years ago. She said she had noticed the green tick on the man’s phone screen, and assumed he had paid, even though her worker was suspicious, as the customer would order exactly $50 worth of food each time.
Said Madam Wang: “Although this happened some time back, I’m still scared to use PayNow. Even when customers complain, I refuse to accept cashless payment, only cash.”
The scam is not new. Customers cheating hawkers with fake screenshots has been an issue since at least 2020, so much so it has discouraged some hawkers from embracing cashless payments.
Mr Low, 57, who is also the chairman of the Boon Lay Hawkers’ Association, said the hawkers find the new anti-scam cups informative, as the helpline is easy to remember. Customers also said the cups remind them of the helpline while they are eating and drinking.
The number of scam cases here hit a record high in 2023. Victims lost $651.8 million in 46,563 reported cases in 2023, a slight dip from the $660.7 million lost in 2022.
The first half of 2024 also saw a record high loss of over $385.6 million, a 24.6 per cent hike compared with the $309.4 million lost in the first half of 2023.
Should this trend continue, scam losses could exceed $770 million by the end of 2024, surpassing the annual record of $660.7 million lost in 2022.
The police and the FMA hope to expand the cup initiative to hawker centres and coffee chains islandwide by 2025.
Superintendent Wilson Teh from the police’s Scam Public Education Office said: “A vigilant and discerning public that is well aware of anti-scam protective measures is our key strategy to fight scams.”
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