About S$6.8 million lost to fake bulk order scams in last 5 months

SINGAPORE: At least S$6.8 million (US$5.2 million) has been lost to fake bulk order scams since April, with more than 420 cases reported, said the police on Tuesday (Aug 27).

The food and beverage and service industries were targeted in recent cases, the police added.

Scammers will typically pose as teachers from academic institutions in Singapore and contact restaurants, retailers, or service-related businesses via calls or WhatsApp, under the pretext of making bulk orders or reservations.

They will request additional items or brands of items that the businesses typically do not stock, or in quantities that the retailers are unable to fulfil on short notice. 

"The purported customer would then recommend a 'supplier' for the victims to purchase from," the police said.

To convince victims to make upfront payments to the fake suppliers, the scammers may provide screenshots showing that they had partially paid the victim for the bulk order.

Victims would only realise that they had been scammed when they did not receive any payment from the purported customer, or when the supplier did not deliver the goods.

Both the customer and supplier would later become uncontactable.

Those with information on scams should call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit the information online.